to Susan Arlene O’Brien and Edward Charles Pendino Christopher David Whitaker of Lumberton; Lane Artice Martin of New Llano of Lumberton; Josh Ray Pendino of Beaumont; and Jeremy Andrew Pendino of Lumberton; grandchildren Susan O’Brien of Lumberton; father Eddie Pendino and his wife Sandra Pendino’s family and friends will be 5:00 p.m His cremation arrangements will be handled through Broussard’s Crematorium prayers and condolences go out to all of the family My deepest condolences to all in the Family He was a great person and always thoughtful of others Thanks for always taking great care of my little sister So sorry for your loss Theresa and Lane you both are in our prayers love Dewayne and family and website in this browser for the next time I comment Beaumont - McFaddin Ave. Beaumont - Major Dr. Nederland ©Broussard's Mortuary 2017-2025 Built By Americom Marketing HOUSTON — “Blend” is one of Dana Brown’s buzzwords. Its usage is an attempt to settle the scouts versus stats debate while soothing those who presume the Houston Astros have strayed from their analytical lean That most of Brown’s outside hires as a general manager boast extensive scouting backgrounds could lend credence to those claims but Brown has projected balance since arriving in Houston last season He spent most of his previous baseball life as a scouting director so Brown’s hiring preferences should surprise no one Brown’s biggest coup came in November, when he lured Deric Ladnier from the Arizona Diamondbacks to reimagine the Astros’ amateur scouting infrastructure Ladnier received the title of senior director of amateur scouting and handed over the department’s day-to-day operations to Cam Pendino ‘It’s a balance here.’ I roll my eyes because that just means you’re not really objectively anchored in leveraging predictive information I think we actually truly embody that here,” Pendino said this week weigh all the pieces of information and these are baseball decisions We’re going to use our baseball intuition to make the best possible decision but that is heavily informed and rooted in data.” Nothing may reinforce Brown’s pursuit of balance more than pairing Pendino and Ladnier Thirty-one years separate them in age and thousands of games in experience Pendino honed his skills by contributing to data-driven scouting reports while studying Houston’s draft model under some of the people who developed it “My brain just watches a guy and I kind of go ‘I like this guy.’ And then I try to figure out why I like this guy and then rely on the data to basically support it or go ‘Maybe you’re a little high on this guy,’” Ladnier said “I’m smart enough to know that sometimes you just get caught up in the moment and then somebody has to tone you down Those are the type of things that I’ve been learning with this organization especially probably more so from a pitching perspective because they do a lot of deep diving into the numbers.” Ladnier played baseball at Ole Miss before spending seven seasons in the minor leagues After one season on the Washington and Lee baseball team where he wrote advance reports and did video work for the Eagles The Astros gave Pendino his first full-time baseball job in 2019 as a scouting analyst Houston has $5,914,700 with which to sign its draft picks, the sport’s smallest bonus pool. The Astros also forfeited their second pick by signing closer Josh Hader this winter meaning 73 picks will pass between Houston’s first selection at No “I’ve been in every situation where you have the most money in it and where you don’t have any money I’ve been on both ends of the spectrum,” Ladnier said “I think what’s important is to keep everybody’s eyes on drafting big league players But just trying to find talent for the major-league club or talent that we can build some depth in this organization.” If Ladnier’s longevity has produced any ego “This is your department,” and gave him the freedom to run it as he saw fit where Ian Rebhan worked under him to coordinate many of the department’s day-to-day operations Rebhan is now the Diamondbacks’ director of amateur scouting — the same title Pendino now has Pendino’s endless energy is infectious and is something both Brown and Ladnier have lauded throughout the season Ladnier remained based in Florida for most of the amateur cycle meaning Pendino organized responsibilities for the Astros’ army of area scouts and cross-checkers He sent Ladnier a schedule every Sunday of what players or matchups he wanted Ladnier to see He’s the analyst.’ I think he’s got tremendous leadership ability,” Ladnier said “I think he has an eye for talent and is a tremendous listener He works harder than any human being I’ve ever been around in my entire life His ability to multi-task is as good as I’ve been around.” Pendino is a rare constant in an organization prone to overhaul. He’s worked under three general managers and two scouting directors, including Kris Gross, whose departure to the New York Mets this winter precipitated this restructuring. In addition to Ladnier, Brown also hired former Washington Nationals farm director De Jon Watson as a special assignment scout the Astros already planned to promote Pendino to director of player evaluation Though Pendino said he interviewed with Brown taking the title of scouting director “kind of just happened.” Brown and Ladnier had one point of emphasis: getting Pendino more in-person scouting experience He took 37 flights and stayed 80 nights on the road during the amateur cycle not only to expand his purview but also to understand the grind Houston’s area scouts and cross-checkers live on a daily basis “You cannot do this job — evaluating — without being at the ballpark,” Pendino said “I also have my own core evaluation processes but being able to have a richer understanding of the physicality of certain players That’s been the biggest thing that I’ve picked up and it’s been crucial for me “The data side of the Astros’ amateur scouting process is very well-known and documented but I think the core members of our scouting group and our area scouts are the lifeblood of what we do The Astros’ presence in ballparks has increased since 2021 when former general manager James Click expanded the team’s amateur scouting staff Pendino said this amateur season mirrored the two that preceded it in terms of in-person scouting allowing Brown — a man who made his career across three decades of drafting elsewhere — to deploy the balanced vision he always preaches “Our scouting evaluations are really crucial information driving the process but all these other information sources that we leverage to make decisions are really important,” Pendino said “Dana has a phrase he ‘likes to weigh all the evidence’ and I think putting someone like myself in charge of the scouting department — it’s an honor but my job is to help distill information from whatever source it comes from to help the Astros make the best decision on draft day.” (Top photo of Dana Brown in spring training: Kim Klement Neitzel / USA Today) Chandler Rome is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering the Houston Astros. Before joining The Athletic, he covered the Astros for five years at the Houston Chronicle. He is a graduate of Louisiana State University. Follow Chandler on Twitter @Chandler_Rome Channelsreels-462365Reelsarrow-expand-462366Cam Pendino on Astros drafting Walker JanekJuly 15 2024 | 00:01:49add-reel-462367Reelsshare-square-2-462368ShareAstros director of amateur scouting Cam Pendino discusses Houston's pick of catcher Walker Janek and the traits that stood out You can now search for over 3 million videos by player Use the search box to start your search with a player or a team and then use the filter panel to refine your results You can also start by selecting filters from the panel Videos can be embedded and shared directly from MLB.com Bienvenido a la nueva búsqueda de videos de MLB Ahora puede buscar más de 3 millones de videos por jugador Use el cuadro de búsqueda para comenzar su búsqueda con un jugador o un equipo y luego use el panel de filtro para refinar sus resultados También puede comenzar seleccionando filtros desde el panel Los videos se pueden insertar y compartir directamente desde MLB.com/es There was an error when executing your search Please refresh the page or try another query to get results If you are still having trouble, please describe your issue here and we will do our best to resolve it Por favor vuelva a cargar la página o intente con otros parámetros para obtener resultados Si aún así continua teneindo problemas, por favor descríbalo aquí y haremos todo lo posible por resolverlo It looks like there are no results for your search Please note that \\\"Play\\\" filters are only available after the 2015 season Videos from 2015 and prior can be searched by player Examples of \\\"Play\\\" filters:Hit ResultPitch ResultPitch Type\"},\"es\":{\"title\":\"¡Ponchado!\",\"body\":\"Aparentemente no hay resultados para tu búsqueda tenga en cuenta que los filtros de Play sólo están disponibles después de la temporada 2015 Los videos de 2015 y anteriores se pueden buscar por jugador There were no clips found for this selection Please refresh the page or try again later No se encontraron clips para esta selección Actualiza la página o vuelve a intentarlo más tarde This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page The date seemed prophetic: eight years to the day since the arrests of two men for the murder of Dominick Pendino But after hours of searching in the hot sun digging with a backhoe and searches by tracking dogs and cadaver dogs the result was the same as previous searches: There was no sign of Pendino's remains watched as state police cadaver dogs and Town of Newburgh tracking dogs scoured a 15- to 20-acre area The backhoe dug holes where the dogs hit promising scents But there was no sign of her brother's remains He was from a respected family in the Town of Newburgh Hundreds of people turned out for a prayer vigil after Pendino disappeared including a son who was born two months after Pendino was murdered are serving 25 years to life in state prison They were convicted of second-degree murder in 2000 after a trial in Orange County Court that was the first case here of a murder conviction without a body as evidence Police searched a hilltop in Marlboro in 2001 and some woods off Browns Road in Montgomery in 2005 and Chrysler and Weygant have refused to talk about what they did with Pendino's body "It was a reliable source involved in this case — a very reliable source," said Town of Newburgh Detective Bill Leonick The source directed police to a patch of farmland off Lake Osiris Road according to testimony during the trial of Weygant and Chrysler it's about a mile away from the Walden auto shop where the killers disposed of bloody evidence from a car A whole cross-section of mid-Hudson law enforcement got involved in planning and executing the search from the FBI to investigators from the state police the Orange County District Attorney's Office and the regional Operation IMPACT squad after four holes had been dug and the dogs had run themselves ragged after a state police helicopter took aerial photos and the turf had been criss-crossed on an ATV Leonick shook his sunburned head and turned to Julie Pendino “A tree in rural Iowa bears witness to generations of human experience and deadly secrets.” This same tree seemingly holds a curse--unexplainable things happen to people who try to remove the tree.  Amy Pendino’s debut novel is The Witness Tree --it’s the story of two women and the mystery behind how each are connected to this tree and its curse she’s been published in several regional magazines she taught middle school English for many years but now she’s traded the classroom for horses and pastures MOORESTOWN — What Elena Pendino saw when she walked into a colonial house that definitely needed some work was not so much a present as a future She saw enormous promise just waiting to be realized The circa-1850 home on Main Street needed the kind of updating that would serve a modern family well with some reconfiguring And she saw a home she could create with a reconfigured family Pendino lost her husband when he was only in his 40s Their two children had been through that trauma and were naturally reluctant about still more change had been lovingly restored and had vast spaces and elegance that had taken years of TLC to create "But something about this Moorestown house just felt right," said Pendino home is really about family and about being surrounded by things and people you love the Pendino family is creating new memories in a home that has taken its share of TLC but has yielded the charm and grace that older homes have with adaptations that make it a true haven Nothing had really been updated since the 1950s although Pendino noted that there was none of the major cleanup the Cinnaminson home required But one of the first decisions made was to put replacement windows throughout the house — an investment she's glad she made Not only does the improvement keep out the chill but it also banishes any traffic noise from the busy street beyond Another early decision was to reconfigure the kitchen-breakfast room area by enlarging it and rethinking the placement of appliances An emotional decision was to paint the kitchen walls the color blue of the Wedgwood china her husband dearly loved And so evolved a back of the home area that truly flows A side screened porch/garden room with floral touches offers yet another space for some of prime views of the expansive grounds With help from Riverton architectural firm J and with her own ability to visualize and maximize spaces the homeowner has turned a lovely home into a spectacular one Because Pendino and her late husband were antiques collectors who even ran a small antiques business from an outbuilding on their Cinnaminson property and because her mother also had a passion for beautiful things are parts of the household furnishings that defined Pendino's childhood years including china that her mother has handed down The tiger maple farm table that can seat 10 the paintings against the table wall and all sorts of accessories also hearken back to the family's past where a photo of her late husband is a loving reminder of his presence in the family's life there are two horsehair side chairs that Matthew Pendino had carefully chosen He would also label the backs of family photos with notes about the stages of family life they depicted wonderful gifts of memory for his wife and their children A formal dining room has the chandelier from the Cinnaminson home where it was given to the couple as a housewarming gift in the master bedroom suite that Pendino had added to the home as a kind of retreat is the grandfather clock that also was part of their former home and the piece that was the single most challenging one to move into this smaller home There's also a view of the woodlands behind the home from the small Colors like touches of persimmon in one downstairs area and the rich soft off-white walls of an old-fashioned cameo in the living room a perfect complement to the Christmas trimmings that are already showing up Pendino's decorative touches are everywhere including in stylish bathrooms that were added to the home's lone full bathroom and the kickback family room/den that the kids especially love Fabrics like buffalo hide as upholstery on the wingback chair add instant texture and interest and even transplanted draperies from Harmony Hall have found new life in Moorestown But what matters most to Pendino are the present and future she had so wisely envisioned As the family heals from its profound loss this new address that met the yearning for an elderly house with character has propelled this mother and her children into a new phase of their lives "We're all in a good place now," Pendino said "We're a family that will always cherish the past HOUSTON — Armed with the sport’s smallest bonus pool and operating without a second-round pick, the Houston Astros prioritized college pitching during Day 2 of the MLB Draft on Monday Six of Houston’s eight picks on Monday were college right-handers an outcome that “just evolved over the course of the day,” according to scouting director Cam Pendino Teams around the sport insist they do not draft for need but Houston’s lack of upper-level pitching depth is apparent is also in the rotation out of absolute desperation Bloss’ trajectory demonstrates how quickly a college prospect can move, especially with second-year general manager Dana Brown in charge. All nine of the team’s selections this year have been college players, beginning with Sam Houston catcher Walker Janek on Sunday night Here is a breakdown of the eight new picks made Monday Forcucci emerged as a legitimate contender for Houston’s first-round pick but an elbow injury limited him to 25 innings Forcucci did not appear in a game after March 15 and underwent Tommy John surgery in June which precipitated his fall down draft boards Forcucci had a 3.67 ERA and limited opponents to a .216 batting average across 132 1/3 frames in his three-year collegiate career Twenty-six of his 32 appearances were starts but he finished six innings just five times MLB Pipeline ranked Forcucci its 86th-best prospect in the draft 📺 https://t.co/Z0uUkU7rxq#GoTritons pic.twitter.com/lKiPUZjPzt — UC San Diego Baseball (@UCSDbsb) February 17, 2024 “It’s a super explosive fastball that gets on guys at 92-97 (mph) with a hard power slider and a slot conducive to a good changeup,” Pendino said really excited to get him in the third round where we did.” Last month, Smith attended one of the Astros’ games against the Detroit Tigers at Minute Maid Park He passed the team store but stopped himself from purchasing a new jersey or hat “I may not be able to wear it again,” he told himself His hometown Astros selected him with the 131st pick on Monday completing a full-circle moment for the Houston native and graduate of Bellaire High Smith spent the past two seasons as Rice’s Friday night starter After posting a 2.75 ERA in 85 innings as a sophomore Smith sported a 4.23 ERA in a team-high 89 1/3 innings this year Parker Smith (‘24, Elig) working the tough arm angle and tunneling 3-pitches well, the ⁦@RiceBaseball⁩ arm cruised in the 89-91 range with the sinking FB and backed it up with a SL in the low-80s and CH 81-83 CNT pic.twitter.com/QK7Fv4iDLE — PG College Baseball (@PGCollegeBall) June 25, 2023 “I’m going to go out there and take the ball every five days I’m not going to be as flashy as a lot of other guys Smith’s arsenal is predicated around a sinker slider and changeup along with a cutter he can mix in when needed Smith said his changeup is his best secondary pitch Pendino seemed hopeful the team’s player development department could “polish up” Smith’s slider while refining some of his usage strategies and pitch locations Smith seemed eager to absorb anything the Astros asked him to adjust — and seemed relieved some of his wardrobe won’t go to waste “Now I’ll be able to wear all my (Astros) stuff and be fine,” he said Hertzler began his college career as a two-way player and didn’t pitch at all as a freshman He made 21 relief appearances as a sophomore before becoming Liberty’s Friday night starter as a junior — his first season as a full-time pitcher led Liberty with a 4.16 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 84 1/3 innings who thinks there could be more velocity and better feel for breaking balls once Hertzler gets into Houston’s system Cole Hertzler with six strikeouts! He has pitched three straight scoreless innings. pic.twitter.com/OV8YaLxoxt — Liberty Baseball (@LibertyBaseball) May 23, 2023 “We’ll give him every chance to be a starter but I think there’s a real bullpen fallback,” Pendino said good changeup and we think we can help him with the breaking ball We think there’s a lot of upside with Cole.” Powell is verbally committed to play at Oklahoma State next season after slashing .502/.561/1.088 — yes you read that right — in 217 at-bats at Seminole State he won NJCAA DI Baseball Player of the Year honors Powell began his collegiate career at Oklahoma before transferring to Seminole State for his sophomore year His junior college numbers are outlandish — 32 home runs 28 strikeouts and 104 RBIs in 55 games — but whether they would translate to Division I pitching is a legitimate question Seminole State's Caden Powell has been selected as the 2024 #NJCAABaseball DI 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 Full Release | https://t.co/Btkn4PdIzX pic.twitter.com/hYTAeTRJRj — NJCAA Baseball (@NJCAABaseball) June 24, 2024 Teams rarely select players within the first 10 rounds without already agreeing to terms and Pendino said the team foresees no signability issues with Powell who came to one of the Astros’ pre-draft workouts at Minute Maid Park at the behest of longtime scout Jim Stevenson very hard off the signs in left field,” Pendino said but the level of athlete Caden is in tandem with the performance with real power and a chance to stick on the dirt None of Houston’s other picks Monday profiled as the type of players who will require the team to spend over slot value Signing some of them to under-slot deals could save money for Powell Sullivan’s surname is synonymous with Southeastern Conference football. His grandfather, Pat Sullivan, won the 1971 Heisman Trophy as Auburn’s starting quarterback before playing five seasons in the NFL Patrick Joseph Sullivan III chose baseball He slugged .528 with a .436 on-base percentage and 45 stolen bases across three seasons at South Alabama Congratulations to Joseph Sullivan for being selected by the Houston Astros in the 2024 MLB Draft. pic.twitter.com/fOIcClj6xb — South Alabama Baseball (@SouthAlabamaBSB) July 15, 2024 Pendino said the team plans to play Sullivan in center field with the understanding he can easily slide over to a corner A hamate bone injury interrupted Sullivan’s spring season but he still managed to slug .531 with 15 extra-base hits in 128 at-bats Houston spent its final three picks on small-college right-handers, prolonging an organizational trend that’s paid dividends. Bloss and Hunter Brown are two obvious examples who is on the precipice of major-league readiness after attending the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee “It’s a testament to our scouting staff for really going to ballparks outside of the famous SEC “I think we’ve had success organizationally with taking guys from smaller schools and they become valuable prospects or big leaguers.” Howard lowered his ERA from 6.99 in 67 frames as a freshman to 4.78 in 69 2/3 innings as a sophomore David struck out 87 and limited opponents to a .209 batting average across 61 1/3 innings this season Smith — who was one of Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J McCarthy’s high school receivers — started his season late while recovering from elbow surgery but has a fastball and athletic movement down the mound that forms a “template” for the Astros’ player development staff to tinker with we are taking because we believe that we are primed to improve them developmentally with whatever their relative deficiency is,” Pendino said “There’s some really attractive traits to each of these different arms we took today.” (Photo of Parker Smith pitching at Minute Maid Park against Texas Tech on March 3 2023: Brian Westerholt / Four Seam Images via Associated Press) The Houston Astros did not think Sam Houston State All-American catcher Walker Janek would still be on the board when they had their first pick in the 2024 MLB Draft — selection No Janek had no clue which team would call his name during Sunday's first day of the draft Janek was still there setting up a match between the two — the 2021 Gregory-Portland graduate and the team 200 miles up the road that his family had long rooted for "I didn’t know who I was going to get picked by but Astros were always in the back of my mind," Janek said in a Zoom conference Sunday night Janek's first-round selection capped a rapid rise up draft boards this season as Janek played his way into the upper echelon of the draft winning the 2024 Buster Posey Award given annually to the nation's top collegiate catcher along with earning first-team All-American accolades from Perfect Game and Baseball America Janek is the second known Gregory-Portland player to be drafted (Darren Dreyer 1992) and the ninth player out of the Coastal Bend to be selected in the first round Sinton catcher Blake Mitchell went eighth overall to the Kansas City Royals in 2023 More: Houston Astros draft Gregory-Portland grad Walker Janek in first round of 2024 MLB Draft The junior backstop it .368 with 17 home runs and 58 RBIs throwing out 16 of 31 stolen base attempts this season giving the Astros scouting department a glimpse of what he can be for the organization with all facets of his game "We feel like Walker has a chance to be a really premium defender at a premium position," said Cam Pendino "Upon in his entry into professional baseball he is going to be one of the most athletic catchers in professional baseball "He was the top guy on our board for nine or 10 picks Pendino lauded Janek's intangibles as a catcher and called their latest first round draft selection an "elite team leader" with immense upside the Astros senior director of amateur scouting was impressed with his tools defensively which were shown in his success rate against potential base stealers "His arm and accuracy is as good as I’ve seen in a long time," Ladnier said the combination of that with his bat — because he is an offensive oriented catcher — with those traits he is someone that I feel like could get through our organization quickly and help us at the major league level sooner than later he was the best catcher in this draft class." More: Gregory-Portland grad makes history with collegiate baseball award Janek credited his success throwing out baserunners to preparation and knowing the scouting report on which runners would try He also said he tried to take a better approach with each at-bat this season and it was fruitful "(My) freshman year was just about getting my feet wet," Janek said I had a better understand how college baseball played I really focused on having a solid approach every at-bat and it proved to work out well." Growing up watching the Hooks play and seeing current Astros come through the system as well as major leaguers on rehab assignments stuck with Janek who recalled a mammoth home run hit by Evan Gattis during a rehab stint in Corpus Christi Janek is on a track to one day don the blue and white Hooks uniform which would make him the second local player to suit up for the Corpus Christi Double-A franchise "He is supremely excited to be a part of the Houston Astros family," Pendino said "He has grown up watching Houston Astros baseball We get a chance to get a young man who we wanted who happens to be relatively local to the organization More: Check out how Corpus Christi area pro baseball players are faring in 2024 Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Learn More Dominick Pendino serves customers meals at Fiddlestix Cafe He finished his undergraduate studies a year and a half ago and has been working as a bartender and server since which comes from his base pay and the tips people give him for his service they usually reciprocate that with a good tip,” Pendino said While Pendino’s situation is a classic example of when to tip for service about 72% of Americans said they’re expected to tip in more places than they were five years ago 34% said they don’t always know whether to tip and 33% struggle with how much to tip for each service known as “Mister Manners,” is an etiquette expert for his company “What Manners Most.” With screens asking how much you’d like to tip popping up almost everywhere the pressure to tip these days is reaching a tipping point which is known as ‘tipflation,’ and they're feeling resentful ‘why am I tipping for absolutely everything?’ ” Farley said Farley said there are no set rules for where the tip money goes He believes companies are using these tip screens to get people to work for them so your wage is actually this.’ That's an enticement,” Farley said if the customer is doing most or all the work if a person is at the airport buying a water or getting their own grab-and-go food and the cashier is just scanning a barcode “The idea that you should feel any sort of guilt to have to tip in those situations is incorrect,” Farley said A tip of roughly 20% is the widely expected standard for good service when eating out at a sit-down restaurant getting your hair colored or being driven somewhere While Pendino said most people leave him regular tips the ones who give extra make things even out for the few who don’t tip “It definitely reflects the service that we give them a lot of times and it's a good way for the customer to just say thank you,” Pendino said “We can't make everyone happy as much as we'll try to Farley said Canada is becoming more on par with tipping standards as America; however if someone from another country visits the U.S or an American travels outside of the U.S. it is expected that tourists follow what the country they are in does in regard to gratuity NEW WINDSOR – A year after Jessica Lopez of Newburgh disappeared, her on-and-off boyfriend has been charged with murdering her.  was arraigned Friday in Orange County Court on an indictment topped by two counts of second-degree murder under two different legal theories of the crime His bail was set at $1 million cash or $3 million bond “Jessica Lopez’s body has not been recovered,” Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said Friday afternoon at a news conference “We are not hopeful that her body will ever be recovered.”  and officials are certain Lopez is dead.   all of us leave a footprint of what we do and how we live,” in our interactions “Every footprint that she would ever leave in life ended between Nov a former substitute teacher in Newburgh schools who later worked at a medical clinic until leaving to care for her father was last seen by a friend the night of Nov she was seen at the Windsor Motel in New Windsor with Mercado.   “We consider this a domestic violence-related homicide in every way, shape and form,” Hoovler said.  More: Police searching for missing Newburgh woman More: Newburgh woman ‘missing under suspicious circumstances’ More: Woman’s disappearance may be ‘domestic related’ Officials said Lopez and Mercado were staying in a room at the motel. About 1:30 a.m 3, officials believe, Mercado broke into a neighboring motel room and stole a backpack and pocketbook from three women who were asleep. At roughly 5 a.m. and Mercado restrained her from doing so and killed her. He later disposed of her body deleted text messages between them from his phone and disposed of her phone two murder chargesOne of the murder charges Mercado now faces charges is that he intentionally killed Lopez; the other charges that he killed her while committing or attempting to commit robbery or kidnapping.   prosecutors believe Mercado prevented Lopez from leaving and killed her and he’s charged with using her debit card to withdraw $1,500 from her bank account about 9 a.m 3. Officials say Mercado put Lopez's body in the trunk of her car police arrested Mercado in the break-in at the motel room and he was indicted on burglary and other charges in December He’s been held at Orange County Jail since his arrest, on that case and on a charge that he violated probation for a 2013 felony driving while intoxicated conviction.  local and federal law enforcement officials searched for Lopez using manpower from multiple police agencies and cadaver-recovery dogs from Ramapo Search and Rescue Police chased down more than 440 leads and conducted “dozens of large-scale searches,” said New Windsor Police Chief Robert Doss.  Hoovler said the searches stretched into northeastern Pennsylvania including at a major landfill where a significant portion of Orange County’s municipal household waste is taken for disposal.  Hoovler said Mercado’s prosecution will be handled by Chief Assistant District Attorney Christopher Borek one of a small handful of prosecutors to have handled a murder case without a body Borek secured murder convictions against two defendants in the 1999 slaying of Dominick Pendino in the Town of Newburgh. Twenty-one years later Pendino’s remains still have not been found.  Hoovler said the evidence in this case is even stronger than in Pendino's.   “This case is going to rely on a lot of video evidence and again – the absence of the ‘footprint,’” Hoovler said “There is nothing in the law that says you have to have a body to bring a prosecution.”  The new indictment also charges Mercado with one count of second-degree burglary, two counts of fourth-degree grand larceny, three counts of tampering with physical evidence and one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property felonies; and two counts of petty larceny and one count of second-degree criminal impersonation misdemeanors. Some of the charges are the same as the earlier indictment.   The tampering counts charge Mercado with actions taken to hide or destroy Lopez’s body and her cell phone, as well as his own cell phone.  The criminal impersonation count charges that he pretended to be “a public servant” or acting with the authority of a public department. Hoovler did not comment on that charge.  Mercado would face a minimum of 15 years to life in prison and a maximum of 25 years to life.  Doss said Lopez’s family has been without her now for more than a year and he hopes the arrest will bring some closure.  and we will continue to fight for Jessica until justice is brought in this case,” Doss said.   2017 at 10:28 am CT.css-79elbk{position:relative;}NFL Network's "A Football Life" series continues Friday 10 with a profile of Minneapolis native and current Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald The one-hour show produced by NFL Films features sit-down interviews with Fitzgerald former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Cris Carter who coached Fitzgerald at the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield Fitzgerald spent his teenage years working as ball boy for the Vikings and with more than 1100 receptions he ranks third on the NFL's all-time list Larry Fitzgerald: A Football Life examines Fitzgerald's impact on and off the field during his 14-year career and his remarkable football life Among the topics discussed in Larry Fitzgerald: A Football Life are: The film includes interviews with the following people: Larry Fitzgerald: A Football Life airs Friday at 8:00 p.m Below is a broadcast schedule for the remaining episodes of A Football Life: Photo credit: In this photo released by the NFL Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald poses for a photo during a Super Bowl Honor Roll gold ball ceremony at the Academy of Holy Angels on Tuesday (Andy Clayton-King/AP Images for National Football League) Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. Jojo Garcia is leaving East Ridge for Simley but will not be eligible for football. Jojo Garcia, a top defensive tackle who has committed to play for the Gophers, said Saturday that he's transferring from East Ridge to Simley for his senior year of high school and won't be playing football this fall. Garcia confirmed that he was deemed ineligible to play because of a dispute over his residence. He said he had been living with an aunt in Woodbury through his sophomore year and into his junior year, clearing the way for him to play at East Ridge, which is located in Woodbury. But he said he moved back with his mother in St. Paul during his junior year. The South Washington County School District announced in early July that East Ridge had to forfeit all its victories from 2013 and 2014, including two section titles, after using an ineligible player. Garcia said he was not the only East Ridge player with a residency issue. "It wasn't just me," Garcia said. "East Ridge did a couple things illegally. There are a couple of big-time recruits that probably shouldn't have been there." East Ridge coach Mike Pendino declined to comment. Garcia said he'll be ineligible to play football at Simley, located in Inver Grove Heights, under Minnesota State High School League rules, but he said he is eligible to wrestle. "It's fine," Garcia said. "I've still got my scholarship [to Minnesota], so everything is fine. I'll concentrate on my body and my mind. I was stressed out when all this happened, crying and stuff, but there's nothing I can do about it." Under NCAA rules, university officials are not allowed to comment on recruits until they sign a letter of intent. National signing day is Feb. 3. Garcia, who attended Cretin-Derham Hall as a freshman, said he didn't have many friends at East Ridge. "I think it was a blessing in a way," he said. "I've learned a lot. One thing this has shown me is that life moves really fast." Garcia, a 6-3, 268-pounder, also had an offers from Michigan State and Western Michigan before committing to the Gophers last November. He was among eight Gophers commits from the Class of 2016 who gathered at Eden Prairie linebacker Carter Coughlin's cabin on Pequot Lakes earlier this summer. Garcia also attended Minnesota's annual recruiting barbecue last weekend. He said he feels he has developed a close bond with his future Gophers teammates. "I already feel like I'm working out for college," he said. Joe Christensen, a Minnesota Star Tribune sports team leader, graduated from the University of Minnesota and spent 15 years covering Major League Baseball, including stops at the Riverside Press-Enterprise and Baltimore Sun. He joined the Minnesota Star Tribune in 2005 and spent four years covering Gophers football. Gophers who previously had committed to Minnesota State Mankato played the past two seasons with Sioux City of the USHL Gophers volleyball coach Keegan Cook wished Sydney Schnichels well “That’s another person we’ve done a lot of good work with and we care about a lot.” A judge is expected to approve an arrangement for Division I colleges to give 22% of athletic department revenue to student-athletes CITY OF NEWBURGH — In the basement of a house where a killer's relatives once lived police dug into the floor hoping to solve a 10-year-old mystery Town of Newburgh police were looking for Dominick Pendino's remains on Tuesday when they arrived at 264 Washington St Larry Weygant and Greg Chrysler killed Pendino in 1999 leaving blood on his driveway but no answers as to the location of his body The two men were convicted of second-degree murder in 2000 and exhausted their state and federal appeals Weygant is serving 27 years to life in prison They have never said what they did with Pendino's body leaving relatives and police to search for the answer on their own Town detectives thought they had a good lead on Tuesday they had to pull plywood off the windows and doors to get inside the abandoned two-story building on Washington Street The house has since become a haven for drug addicts who climb over mounds of trash in the backyard and enter through the back windows detectives and officers worked under floodlights with shovels They paused only to allow periodic searches by state police cadaver dogs the cops emerged dusty and tired with no sign of Pendino police have followed a number of tips and conducted searches throughout the region The familial link to Larry Weygant paired with the unpublicized details known by the source lent the most recent tip an air of credibility but it ended with the same result as the others Detective Bill Leonick has worked the case for 10 years He pulled off his blue rubber gloves and helped load the tools Tuesday afternoon and Leonick headed off to tell Pendino's family On July 24 at Helias High School in Jefferson City the Show-Me State Games (SMSG) first introduced Martial Arts into the many sports sponsored at the event The commissioner and sixth-degree black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do owns and operates a martial arts school in Osage Beach Chief Instructor of the Osage Beach school and a third-degree black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do Jack Shepherd brought 20 students from Howard’s ATA Black Belt Academy to the tournament These students ranged anywhere from white belt beginners to senior black belts Competition ranged from five different forms of Karate three different forms of Kung-Fu and several Tae-Kwon-Do disciplines All of these local ATA Martial Arts students place in their divisions Students from the ATA?Martial Arts Academy in Osage Beach won 14 total gold medals during a recent tournament in Chesterfield Overall results from the ATA martial artists included: • Paul Pendino – 1st forms 1st sparing 1st weapons The students at ATA?travel the United States competing in tournaments in places such as Las Vegas The group is planning on having upcoming tournaments in Chicago (March 12-13) ATA has also put together a jui jitsu team that will be traveling the U.S “All of the students work hard at ATA?Martial Arts but the parents behind the scenes is where the true heart of the team is,” said Jack Shepherd of Lake ATA For more information on the Academy or any other martial arts PHILADELPHIA — The Sixers found a way to bring good basketball to South Philly Philadelphia’s NBA team invited two Burlington County high school girls teams to play before the hometown team took the court against New Orleans on Friday night Moorestown beat Riverside 49-26 in a rare BCSL game played outside the state of New Jersey The final score was perhaps the least interesting thing about the entire experience “I was looking forward to this all week,” Moorestown senior Miranda Chrone said The Quakers (5-4) began taking control on the scoreboard late in the first quarter that fact freed both teams to embrace their surroundings and enjoy themselves “It was a great experience,” Riverside forward Lyndsay Micucci said “You usually don’t get a chance to do this in a normal season and getting to do it with girls I’ve been playing with since I was 6 years old Miccucci led Riverside (7-4) with nine points Moorestown’s Adriana Pendino led all scorers with 12 Moorestown freshman Faith Bonett scored nine points including seven in the decisive second quarter In all 14 different players registered points in the scorebook Every player that stepped on the court brought home lifetime memories this is huge.’ There are so many things to look at Someone said there was somebody from the Sixers and I was like Each basket on an NBA court is 10 feet from the floor just like Riverside’s Pop Vernon Field House or the Isenberg Gym at Moorestown 10 feet longer than a typical high school court “It’s so different,” Moorestown junior Anahita Sabet-Paymen said “Coach (Chris) Hill mentioned that with the depth Normally I’m on with my 3-point shots but today I was a little more timid I just stayed off the 3-point line and looked to drive to the basket.” It looked like the 3-point shot wasn’t going to be a feature of the game for a long while Then Rams junior Sammy Jalkowski stroked one from the right corner followed by a straight-on three by senior Kelli George Both players can forevermore claim certified NBA 3-point range “That was so great,” Rams senior Alix VanSciver said Her taking that 3-pointer was really something mostly until this year when she stepped up to play varsity I’m pretty sure she’s leading our team in 3s Warming up we all tried to take 3-point shots and most of us just air-balled it It’s weird because there aren’t walls behind the court The teams were supposed to play on Thursday but then a special opportunity arose when Riverside coach Scott Atkinson hit on the idea of playing a game in South Philly He put together a game plan and made his pitch to the Sixers The Sixers are hoping to bring great basketball back to South Philly And they’re bringing Burlington County along with them “I’m going to remember being here with all my friends,” Pendino said This experience is definitely once in a lifetime.” the Astros ended up selecting Sam Houston catcher Walker Janek Many thought Janek would go higher throughout the draft As shared by Brian McTaggart of MLB.com the Astros actually viewed Janek as the top player on their board for nine or 10 picks before they were able to get him at No McTaggart also suggested that Janek could move his way through the organization quickly Houston scouting director Cam Pendino spoke out about Janek He could not believe that the Astros were able to get the young catcher "We did not think he was going to be there Following his selection to Houston, Janek spoke out about the draft process "I had zero idea who was going to take me I was kind of stressing out on the couch there and once it finally happened it was a surreal moment the catcher's family are huge Astros' fans Walker Janek: "My whole family loves the Astros." During the 2024 college baseball season for Sam Houston State He slashed .364/.476/.709 to go along with 17 home runs and 58 RBI the 21-year-old catcher offers major promise for the future He could end up being the long-term future behind the plate for the team There is no questioning the massive potential he has Only time will tell if he can end up reaching his full potential but he's loaded with raw talent and has a great work ethic as well This seems like a pick that should pan out well for Houston He is very MLB ready compared to most prospects and is ready to embrace the challenge of working his way to the big leagues Fans will enjoy watching his development throughout the minor leagues over the next couple of years The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Sports Illustrated or its affiliates All picks and predictions are suggestions only and not a guarantee of success or profit If you or someone you know has a gambling problem crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER Jeffrey Berry took the bench for the last time Wednesday As he began the morning calendar in Orange County Court Berry took a quick survey of the courtroom and spotted retired lawyer Peter Neuman who has known him since back in the days when Berry refereed his son's basketball games and couldn't afford Oriental carpets," Neuman cracked The mandatory retirement age for judges is 70 His seat may remain open until it's filled through election or the governor could appoint someone temporarily Berry presided over a number of notorious cases He oversaw the prosecution of the men who killed Dominick Pendino although Pendino’s body has never been found He ran the county's first drug treatment court I think you taught me more about lawyering than anyone else," lawyer John Ingrassia told Berry Ingrassia’s father was the late Judge Angelo Ingrassia the other judges and court staff threw a party for Berry There was a lot of good-natured ribbing over Berry’s will-he-or-won’t-he path to retirement over the past few years we never believed he was going,” Judge Elaine Slobod told the crowd the administrative judge for the Ninth Judicial District praised Berry personally and professionally “He’s probably the finest criminal trial judge in the state,” Scheinkman said Berry praised the crew of judges in Orange County The courts have an obligation to treat all people with kindness and dignity I cannot think of a more noble thing that I could have done for society than to become a judge,” Berry said never once did I not want to come to court.” TOWN OF NEWBURGH — Charles Kehoe left in a long white limo saluted by two rows of police officers as bagpipes played The Town of Newburgh police chief retired Wednesday after 32 years with the department It was an auspicious exit for a man known for quiet humility He'd requested the union skip the usual party and gifts Kehoe was a struggling construction worker and a medic with the Town of Newburgh Volunteer Ambulance Corps Seven years had passed since his return from Vietnam as a medical corpsman A couple of buddies on the police force persuaded him to take the police exam and most cops didn't want the sometimes gruesome duty of collecting evidence and photographing crime scenes and bad car crashes I didn't really have a problem with that," Kehoe said and most of the time it was Kehoe who knocked on the door of the relatives to tell them what happened "It's very tough to get the words out of your mouth," he said His colleagues and charges said he brought a soft touch to moments like that Kehoe notified Cosimo DiBrizzi's relatives when detectives arrested Dennis Sweeney in the 2004 murder His detectives have continued to search for the body of Dominick Pendino nine years after two men were convicted in the murder Pendino's relatives stopped to say goodbye Retired Detective Fred Ferraiuolo came from Florida for the singular reason of seeing Kehoe retire Deputy Chief John Mahoney will run the department while the Town Board decides what to do with the position walked out the door of the station on Wednesday and headed for the limo 2011 at 3:31 am ETIt took more than a year and the efforts of the Home & School Association the Moorestown Township Public Schools administration the township and the school district’s buildings and grounds department sits on the front lawn at the center of the school building Cars going in both directions on Stanwick Road can see the sign “One of the biggest reasons for the new sign was it faced the wrong way,” said Robin Pendino who spearheaded the efforts to get the new sign “People who were unfamiliar with the school would enter the wrong driveway.” donated soil and Beechwood Landscaping donated labor for landscaping around the sign “The kids love it,” said WAMS Principal Carole Butler “It definitely identifies us as the middle school.” “Moorestown Home and School would like to thank Robin Pendino for volunteering her time over the last year to make this project become reality,” said Sheree Lantz “Home & School would also like to thank Ronald Brodie of NW Sign Company and you the parents who support Mooretown Home and School’s fundraisers so we can make these improvements possible.” Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. Link IconCopy linkFacebook LogoShare on FacebookXShare on XEmailShare via EmailLink copied to clipboardPanel event focuses on immigration scamsForum at USCIS office in University City tomorrow will advise people on what to watch out for about 40 Polish immigrants in Philadelphia went to see lawyer Ricky Palladino with a similar problem they had traveled to New York to meet the president of an agency a Polish man who had a picture of himself with Pope John Paul II prominently displayed behind his desk "They feel safe with someone who speaks their language," said Palladino Palladino said the man was falsely telling the immigrants that he was a lawyer and that they were eligible for green cards based on work employment when in fact they were not eligible After the immigrants paid the agency thousands of dollars they were put into deportation proceedings Nonlawyers without credentials who promise to help people get immigration benefits are involved in what federal authorities call the unlawful practice of immigration law the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission unveiled a multiagency effort to combat such immigration scams Citizenship and Immigration Services will conduct a public forum "Combating Immigration Scams and the Unlawful Practice of Immigration Law," from 1 to 3 p.m The event will feature speakers from USCIS Attorney's Office and the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office as well as a Villanova University law student who started a project to help victims of notario publico frauds and you need the right help when filing for a visa applying for a green card," said Carla Pendino community-relations officer for the USCIS Philadelphia district office and a speaker on the panel Pendino said one of the newer scams in Philadelphia is one in which a caller tells people they will be deported if they don't wire-transfer money The scammer has falsely set up a caller ID that identifies the call as coming from USCIS She advises people to be cautious of some local stores that offer an array of services to immigrants "If someone out there is saying they're an expert in tax If they promise a green card in a certain time frame One scam highlighted on the USCIS website focuses on anyone who advertises as a notario publico The person claims to provide legal services on immigration Pendino said this is "one of the buyer-beware issues." It's "up to the immigrant to see if they're a licensed attorney," she said People can ask to see a person's license or check padisciplinaryboard.org to see if an attorney has an active license and is in good standing Link IconCopy linkFacebook LogoShare on FacebookXShare on XEmailShare via EmailLink copied to clipboardHis job is to be on Barnegat Bay watch"Big Al" Wutkowski will watch for illegal activities and environmental issues and "Big Al" Wutkowski doesn't know any women who have one-piece red swimsuits But the Point Pleasant sport fisherman and boater is becoming a real-life baywatcher is enlisting him as its first Barnegat Bay guardian sworn to be the eyes and ears of environmentalists and law enforcement on the endangered waterway He'll be out on the water looking for illegal or dangerous boating activities and unapproved development along the coast "It's a passion I have," said the retired construction company vice president I've seen swans getting caught in crab traps I am tired of what I have been witnessing." who lives on a lagoon near the northern edge of Barnegat Bay and sees how stressed it is: the pollution He approached the Littoral Society to volunteer to help The group will hold fund-raisers to support his activities will sell Wutkowski boat fuel at a 30-cents-per-gallon discount "Barnegat Bay has spoken loudly over recent years including tremendous losses in shellfish populations and stinging sea nettles prohibiting our enjoyment of the bay." New Jersey is taking steps to help Barnegat Bay after years of neglect and abuse Christie signed into a law a package of bills aimed at improving the bay's health including adopting the nation's most stringent limits on fertilizer use The nitrogen in fertilizer is a major cause of algae blooms which deplete oxygen in the water and kill marine life It also contributes to the proliferation of jellyfish in the bay and nearby waterways that flow into it Wutkowski will be on the lookout for careless or reckless behavior by boaters and operators of personal watercraft "Throwing garbage in the water is another big thing," he added "They toss it right off the edge of the boat." Wutkowski said he will take a gentle approach with those he finds acting irresponsibly explaining to them why what they are doing is wrong and how it hurts the environment he will take down the identifying information from their boat or watercraft and forward it to law enforcement authorities just my presence out there will help things." Tesco and its customer data science company Dunnhumby have announced a spate of online and offline media updates to the Tesco Media Insights Platform The UK’s biggest supermarket revealed details today about how it is building its retail media business after Tesco and Dunnhumby launched the “UK’s largest closed loop grocery media and insight platform”, last year said that at launch there were five channels in which Tesco and Dunnhumby provided retail media there were more than 20 different media propositions catering to different sizes and need states from awareness to individual activation targeting Robbins said the Tesco Media Insight Platform gives advertisers “the power to understand customers like never before” through its first-party data at scale revealing what types of brands and what combinations 20 million consumers are buying there is the measuring capability which allows brands to understand “the pound of every spend of that media” “We’re working hard on a lot of new insights [that] are being developed to actually predict which pieces of NPD [new product development] which need space for customers are big opportunities for brands,” Robins added he highlighted no or zero alcohol is a “booming area” at the moment in the beer Tesco is trialling a “Scan as you shop” ad capability in 50 stores which allows advertisers to put their brands on the scanners used by ‘self-serve’ customers The plan is to roll this out to all largest stores by the end of the year Robbins also mentioned an offsite capability with Facebook measurement which offers a “clean room environment” linking Facebook and Tesco customers for ad campaigns There is now an option to measure those campaigns through a new product called Dunnhumby Sphere which is a self-serve tool being built at the moment Robbins said eventually as all different modules of Dunnhumby Sphere launch there will be more and more capability for brands to self-serve media including selecting in addition to its managed service through its media planning teams Tesco and Dunnhumby plan a connected TV expansion with “all the classic TV brands” in a similar vein to their partnership with Facebook media consulting manager and digital specialist at Dunnhumby said Tesco and Dunnhumby were already seeing “real success and really high engagement” with relevant sponsored search from customers and advertisers with more than 195 million searches on Tesco per week on average he said they were optimising the algorithm and improving relevance and currently relevant sponsored search provides a 60- 80% conversion rate on average and a return on adspend between 250 and 400 Pendino added: “Increasingly we are seeing brands and advertisers start to move their spend from sort of dipping the toe in the water and actually starting to get a much more “always-on” approach reaching customers Sponsored checkout offers on the Web are also slated to be brought in soon Pendino explained this is being “actively developed” at the moment with an “absolutely massive” reach opportunity to customers at a crucial point in a purchasing mindset before they complete the check-out and pay Tesco customers are currently making 1.1 million online orders a week new targeted grocery app display banners have been added and are being developed Pendino said: “This is going to be really highly viewable highly engaging display banner content within key touch points on the app that currently don’t have media in This will be a really key expansion to our placements that we’ve got.” The Tesco grocery app continues to occupy a majority market share at 36% which is twice the size of the nearest competitor Sainsbury’s Another future project is to improve Tesco Zone pages to give brands more presence and the ability to direct add to basket and digital on-site and in-store measurement highlighted 86% of sales go through bricks and mortar at Tesco and highlighted developments with creating “connected stores” prioritising personalised communications in-store alongside online and offline integrations through data from Tesco Media Insights Platform to prime and prompt customers to make purchases Tesco now has the largest digital out-of-home screen network in the UK through a long-standing partnership with JCDecaux The supermarket now has 500 screens and 100 new 75 inch screens which can be seen on an average of 1.9 million visits already a third of the highest ranking audience on TV These screens can be “a really dynamic channel” as they can be personalised with up to 30 different creative messages during a campaign to speak more specifically to a town mood of a nation or react quickly to a sporting event In-store radio is now available in 2000 stores nationwide Alexander said most customers spend around 42 minutes in store plenty of time for in-store radio provides to educate customers Tesco consumer insight showed the three highest concerns across the board was personal finance Inflation is at the moment forecast to be around 11% at the end of 2022 and the IGD predicted food inflation to peak in the summer around 15% although city reports are saying it could be closer to 22% The cost-of-living squeeze is expected to get worse before it gets better which will not only affect consumers at the lower end of the affluence scale and Tesco is already seeing switching to own label as a result He urged brands to get involved in Tesco’s “We Want You To Spend Less” campaign to help consumers deal with rising costs Robbins commented: “Essentially what we really want is the brands to be part of that journey too It’s an opportunity for brands to support this messaging and to help those that are struggling the cost-of-living to service your brands and promote your brands that hopefully supports you but also supports customers in the same way.” helped Tesco establish the Clubcard loyalty scheme in 1994 and is now a global data science consultancy that is wholly owned by Tesco Data-led charts from across the UK media landscape Find out more about the UK's most comprehensive aggregator of media data Matt Boyles wants to give queer people the chance to get fit on their own terms Have you ever walked into a gym and felt a wave of embarrassment and fear wash over you?  If you’re LGBTQ+, the chances are that you’ve had a negative experience with sport and fitness at some point in your life Too often, team sports can be painfully gendered, while gyms are often hyper-masculine environments where queerness is neither celebrated nor embraced and where bodies are expected to conform to a slim Matt Boyles struggled with sports from an early age “There was a general assumption in my school that if you weren’t good at rugby you weren’t good at anything else,” Matt tells PinkNews “I went through school and my teens thinking fitness and sport was what other people did never felt there were things that would appeal to me as a way to get fitter or stronger.” he went to a bootcamp and realised for the first time that he could explore fitness in his own way he quit his marketing job to pursue a full-time career as a personal trainer he worked with people from all walks of life – but he couldn’t escape the feeling that there was more he could be doing for queer people.  “I really felt like I had more of a mission in me I was helping the people I was seeing but I wasn’t changing the world,” he says fitness had changed my life and helped me in all these different ways queer guys out there who feel the same way and are interested but just don’t know where to start.”  That realisation gave Matt the push to set up Fitter Confident You bi and trans men together on their fitness journeys.  He wants to show queer folk that their fitness journey can look exactly how they want it to look – and they don’t have to set foot near a gym if they don’t want to “That boys’ club environment still exists in lots of gyms,” Matt says recalling how at the start of his own fitness journey he joined a gym that ended up being a “super cis “It felt like the trainers were more interested in showing off to each other than in actually supporting the clients who were there on their journeys,” he says “They hadn’t taken the time to understand people’s starting points It wasn’t the welcoming fast track to fitness I thought it would be because I just didn’t feel welcome there.”  Matt points out that home workouts are a good starting point for those who feel nervous “The pandemic did have a positive effect in showing that people can do home workouts They’re not for everyone but as a starting point… home workouts are brilliant because there’s no one else there – there’s no commute Rachel Brown is an LGBTQ-inclusive personal trainer – she echoes Matt’s thoughts but also points out that some queer people might want to work more closely with a personal trainer who can create a carefully crafted plan for them one barrier faced by queer people is that a lot of fitness spaces/gyms don’t feel very inclusive and can be intimidating for anyone but especially people from the LGBTQ+ community,” she says I’ve found that a barrier for them is some guns not having gender neutral changing facilities Another trigger is clothing as this can trigger body dysmorphia as can certain exercises or movements.” Rachel’s advice to queer people is to find a personal trainer or coach who can design a plan with your needs in mind “There are fitness centres which are more inclusive now gyms that offer gender neutral changing facilities classes designed specifically for members of the LGBTQ+ community and PTs/coaches who are queer and understand how to overcome barriers faced by queer people.” If you’re thinking of starting on a fitness journey but feel nervous Matt has some tips to help you get started About us Contact us Advertise Work for us Terms and conditions Privacy policy