Jennifer Lopez files for divorce from Ben Affleck after 2 years of marriage

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By JOCELYN NOVECK and ANDREW DALTON, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — After a relationship that spanned two decades, two engagements, two weddings and headlines too numerous to count, Jennifer Lopez has filed for divorce from Ben Affleck.

The filing Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court brought to an apparent end a celebrity coupling — or at least the second installment of it — that dazzled from the very heights of the pop culture firmament and emblazoned countless tabloid covers. They became known, even before such power-couple portmanteaus were ubiquitous, as “Bennifer.”

The filing was first reported by the TMZ website. TMZ said Lopez listed the date of separation as April 26, 2024. It added that she did not mention any prenuptial agreement.

After meeting, falling in love and getting engaged in the early 2000s — and starring together in 2003’s infamous “Gigli” and 2004’s “Jersey Girl” — the couple parted ways, blaming in part the pressure of the public eye.

But to the delight of many and perhaps the skepticism of others, they reunited two decades later and married — twice — in 2022.

“Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient,” wrote Lopez, announcing their first, quickie Las Vegas wedding that July, and signing off as Jennifer Lynn Affleck.

“Stick around long enough and maybe you’ll find the best moment of your life in a drive through in Las Vegas at 12:30 in the morning in the tunnel of love drive through with your kids and the one you’ll spend forever with,” she wrote in her newsletter.

The couple had flown to Las Vegas, stood in line for their license with four other couples and were wed just after midnight at A Little White Wedding Chapel, where Lopez said a Bluetooth speaker played their brief march down the aisle. She called it the best night of the couple’s lives.

A month later, they had a much grander wedding at Affleck’s house in Georgia, in front of friends and family.

Both of them had been previously married. Affleck, 51, married Jennifer Garner, with whom he shares three children, in 2005. They divorced in 2018.

FILE – Actors Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck arrive for the 75th annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles on March 23, 2003. (AP Photo/Kim D. Johnson, File)

Lopez, 54, had been married three times before. She was briefly married to Ojani Noa from 1997-1998 and to Cris Judd from 2001-2003. She and singer Marc Anthony were married for a decade, having wed in 2004, and share 14-year-old twins. She started dating former baseball player Alex Rodriguez in 2017, but the couple called off their engagement in 2021.

All along, it had been Lopez who was more vocal in describing her and Affleck’s journey. When asked earlier this year whether she was harder on herself because her relationships had been so high-profile, Lopez agreed.

“Oh yeah. 100%. It’s made me doubt myself and really feel bad about myself at times. Made me feel like I wanted to quit at times. But at the end of the day, I feel like you kind of have to do this thing where you learn how to navigate it,” she told The Associated Press. “You take the things that could be constructive about that and use it, and the rest you kind of just throw away as kind of like haterations or, you know, other things like that and just be like, ‘Whatever. I know who I am, I know what I want to do.’ ”

Affleck himself expressed admiration for her self-possession, telling the AP last year that he agreed with the observation that Hollywood was unsure how to capitalize on her wide-ranging talent.

FILE – Ben Affleck, left, and Jennifer Lopez appear at the premiere of their film “Gigli,” in Los Angeles on July 27, 2003. (AP Photo/Rene Macura, File)

“I think she’s in her prime,” Affleck said then. “She’s doing extraordinary work in large measure because she’s taking that step to take responsibility for what she’s doing rather than say, ‘This is what I’m being offered.’ ”

Lopez is starring in the upcoming “Unstoppable,” under Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity banner.

In May, she starred in the Netflix movie “Atlas.” At the end of the month, she suddenly canceled her 2024 North American tour, saying she was “heartsick and devastated” to be letting fans down but the move was necessary. “Jennifer is taking time off to be with her children, family and close friends,” organizers said in a statement.

The tour was to be her first in five years, in support of her first solo album in a decade, “This Is Me…. Now” and its companion film. a fictionalized look at her long love life, and a documentary.

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“When I was a girl they’d ask me what I’d be. A woman in love is what I grew up wantin’ to be,” Lopez sang on the title track.

The album, she said, was inspired by her rekindled relationship with Affleck. But the film was more “about your journey as a person, it’s about one person’s journey and what it takes to get from heartbreak back to love. Or a hopeless romantic’s journey in their search for love.” In the movie, she played a character called The Artist who, similarly, had decided as a child what she wanted to be when she grew up: “in love.”

But the road was rocky. In an early scene, The Artist is on the back of a motorcycle, riding across a beach, with a hunky man, face shielded. Then the motorcycle crashes.

“Not all love stories have a happy ending,” she says.

Jocelyn Noveck reported from New York.

Trump campaigns to ‘make America safe again’ as Democratic convention zeroes in on his felony record

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By ISABELLA VOLMERT and BILL BARROW

HOWELL, Mich. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump pledged Tuesday to “Make America Safe Again” while campaigning in Michigan as the Democrats who gathered in Chicago to nominate Kamala Harris branded him a career criminal.

As part of a battleground campaign swing designed to counter the Democratic National Convention, Trump stood alongside sheriff’s deputies in the city of Howell and tarred Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general, as the “ringleader” of a “Marxist attack on law enforcement” across the country.

“Kamala Harris will deliver crime, chaos, destruction and death,” Trump said in one of many generalizations about an America under Harris. “You’ll see levels of crime that you’ve never seen before. … I will deliver law, order, safety and peace.”

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks on crime and safety during a campaign event at the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, in Howell, Mich. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump has sought in recent weeks to blunt the enthusiasm that Harris has attracted since President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign and endorsed her. That has involved both dark predictions about what electing Harris would mean for the country and efforts by Trump’s advisers to set up events where he can try to draw specific policy contrasts. On Tuesday in Michigan, the subject was crime and public safety.

“Our policemen and women have the backs of law-abiding citizens every day,” Trump said. “When we go back to the White House, you’re going to see support the likes of which you haven’t seen, certainly in four years.”

In excerpts released before his speech, Trump’s campaign also said he would call for the death penalty for child rapists and child traffickers; he did not mention that during his remarks.

The event was the latest billed as focused on a specific issue. But on these occasions, Trump has spent considerable time attacking Harris personally and taking shots at Biden, and the same was true after their appearances Monday at the Democratic convention.

“I watched last night in amazement as they tried to pretend everything was great,” Trump said, singling out inflation and the U.S.-Mexico border as topics Democrats glossed over. “We have a fool as president,” he said of Biden.

Trump presented a bleak portrait of life in the U.S. and the threat of a Harris presidency, though he was short on specifics and heavy on hyperbole.

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“It’s just insane,” Trump said. “You can’t walk across the street to get a loaf of bread. You get shot, you get mugged, you get raped, you get whatever it may be. And you’ve seen it, and I’ve seen it, and it’s time for a change.”

Trump making such claims, surrounded by supportive law enforcement officers, stood in stark contrast to the Democrats’ convention. Speaker after speaker found ways Monday night in Chicago to remind Americans that Trump is the first former president ever convicted of felony crimes, has been found civilly liable for sexual assault, and still faces multiple indictments, including for his efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat to Biden.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas skewered Trump on Monday night as “a career criminal, with 34 felonies, two impeachments and one porn star,” a reference to his payments to an adult film actress at issue in his New York conviction for business fraud.

As the crowd roared, Crockett kept going, hailing Harris as a former prosecutor who “has a resume” while Trump “has a rap sheet.”

The derision reached its peak as Hillary Clinton, whom Trump defeated in 2016, stood back from the podium and smiled as delegates chanted: “Lock him up! Lock him up!” — a turnabout from Trump supporters’ chants about Clinton eight years ago despite the former secretary of state never having been charged with any crime.

Lakeland contract employee charged with theft from city

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A former contract employee for the city of Lakeland has been charged with theft for stealing – and then pawning – several items from the city.

Shane Jacks, 43, of Lakeland, a former employee of People Service, the company that operates the city’s water treatment plant and also provides public works-related services, has been charged with theft in Washington County District Court.

Jacks allegedly stole three chainsaws, two trimmers and a leaf blower, with a total value of over $2,180, from a city building on June 10. It was determined that Jack had pawned several of the missing items.

Officials were able to identify Jacks by surveillance video and his Minnesota driver’s license. The pawned items, with serial numbers that matched items missing from the city, totaled $1,410, according to the criminal complaint.

City officials confirmed that Jacks had access to the public works building, but did not have permission to take or pawn the property, the complaint states.

“We are disappointed with the behavior and activities of (Jacks),” Mayor Bob Craggs said Tuesday. “Upon begin made aware of this, People Service immediately terminated the employee and notified the council. We have worked with People Service to address the accusations of defrauding the city, and they have actively recruited someone to replace Mr. Jacks.”

Lakeland “is doing what it can to make itself whole as it relates to the loss of any equipment,” he added.

Jacks’ first court appearance will be 1:30 p.m. Oct. 2.

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How Minnesota United was able to land new striker Kelvin Yeboah

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New striker Kelvin Yeboah was fitting in just right at Minnesota United’s training grounds in Blaine on Tuesday.

The Ghanian/Italian native joked with new teammate Bongi Hlongwane during one drill, got in some extra touches post-practice with Joseph Rosales and relaxed barefoot in the grass after the session with Dayne St. Clair and few club staff members.

The 24-year-old has been here before. Well, not here here, but Yeboah has gotten used to meeting new people in new places after playing in six different European countries since 2017.

After being transferred from Sturm Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga to Genoa in Italy’s Serie A in 2022, Yeboah was sent on three separate loans to Augsburg in the German Bundesliga, Montpellier in France’s Ligue 1 and Standard Liege in Belgium’s Pro League A.

Yeboah acknowledged it was tough to live such a transient life, but can now fully unpack in Minnesota after signing a 3½-year contract with MNUFC through the 2027 season. He said he learned a lot about himself as he lived out of a suitcase, especially in the last two years.

“I think it’s also very good for yourself, to get to know yourself,” Yeboah told reporters Tuesday. “… Bouncing around, playing in different leagues also gave me a lot of experience. … By playing all these places, it built me up to be who I am now. So, I had to mature pretty quickly. It’s a good experience to have.”

Loons Chief Soccer Officer Khaled El-Ahmad signed Yeboah to 1 of 3 high-level Designated Player contracts. United’s transfer fee to Genoa was approximately $3.2 million, less than half the reported $7.2 million Genoa agreed to pay Sturm Graz for Yeboah in 2022.

“A good opportunity in the market,” El-Ahmad said.

El-Ahmad was working for City Football Group when he was first drawn to Yeboah when he played in Austria in 2020-22. El-Ahmad brought up that long-held appeal when he pitched Yeboah on coming to Minnesota.

“It also impressed me how well (he) knew me,” Yeboah said.

Yeboah was intrigued by playing in MLS and for head coach Eric Ramsay, but before making a decision he consulted with his uncle, Tony Yeboah, who played at Eintracht Frankfurt, Leeds United and elsewhere in the 1980s and ’90s. Kelvin often talks to Tony, but he didn’t expect the details his 58-year-old elder knew about MLS.

“He was actually knowing a lot about it,” Kelvin said. “And he told me, ‘Wow, this is actually a good opportunity, I think you should take it.’ I think it could be a very good step for your career. So, once he said that, it also give me also more peace to take the decision on.”

El-Ahmad cited connections to front offices at Standard Liege and Genoa for helping inform his decision, as well as the process in bringing Yeboah over to the Loons.

“When it comes to Kelvin, we wanted pace — drive to run in behind, brave enough to dribble, pass people with pace and just a natural instinct that he wants to constantly go forward,” El-Ahmad said. “I think in terms of the other offensive players we have, he fits well.”

Yeboah described himself first as “quite energetic, fast and pretty technical.”

El-Ahmad also wants to temper expectations for Yeboah and the four other players brought in at the summer transfer window. Ahead of their debuts, he reminded how it can be a difficult transition to join a team midseason in a foreign country.

Ramsay and Yeboah are eager for him to take the field Saturday against Seattle Sounders at Allianz Field.

“He is probably ahead of where we would expect him to be,” Ramsay said. “He is a really strong character. He is someone we wanted to give space to, and he has taken that space and led the group. He’s a really good character.”

“He is someone that trains with a real purpose,” the coach added. “He is desperate to come here and get better and use it as a platform to accelerate his career and his trajectory. And you feel that day to day. We’ve been really pleased with him and I think he will make a big mark.”

Yeboah hasn’t played a game since mid-May and was asked Tuesday about his fitness level.

“I think,” he said with a smile, “we’re gonna see on Saturday.”