Lori Barghini and Julia Cobbs surprised listeners and friends Tuesday afternoon when they announced on-air that they were ending their long-running “Lori and Julia” radio show on myTalk 107.1.

The pair said they’ll be on the air until the end of June and are planning numerous events to celebrate their partnership and show. They made the decision due to Barghini’s desire for more free time as well as the rigors of producing the show for more than 20 years.

“This girl needs more time to fart around and they’re not willing to give it to me,” Barghini said with a laugh. She said the duo had been thinking about ending the show for some time now and that they kept their decision a secret until they announced it on Tuesday’s show. They said they were lucky to leave on their own terms rather than be abruptly shown the door, which is common in the radio business.

St. Paul native Cobbs and Barghini, a self-described Army brat who spent time living in Duluth in her youth, first met in the early ’90s, when they were both working for Carlson Cos. Barghini worked in negotiated preferred supplier agreements when Cobbs took a job as a marketing manager.

“I remember Julia poked her head around the corner when she was just starting — her cube was going to be next to me — and she said, ‘Hi, I’m Julia!’ And I thought, ‘Look at how cute that girl is. She’s going to be my friend,’ ” Barghini said in a 2004 Pioneer Press interview.

In 1999, the pair invented Bodyperks, a silicone nipple meant to enhance the appearance of women’s breasts. To promote the product, they did hundreds of television and radio interviews and realized they had a future in radio after a producer for the cable channel Oxygen suggested they should co-host their own talk show.

Three years later, Barghini and Cobbs were among the first hosts hired when Hubbard Broadcasting launched myTalk, a talk radio station devoted to women.

Each weekday from 3 to 6 p.m., the pair discuss such topics as celebrity news and gossip, fashion, books, movies and current events, all while speaking freely about their friendship that’s lasted several decades.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Lori and Julia aren’t too proud to beg on SAG red carpet

“I love you, my sister,” Cobbs said Tuesday while choking back tears.

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By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. (AP Entertainment Writer)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyer said Tuesday that the searches of the rapper’s Los Angeles and Miami properties by federal authorities in a sex trafficking investigation were ”a gross use of military-level force” and that Combs is “innocent and will continue to fight” to clear his name.

It’s the first public statement from the music mogul’s team since Monday’s raids of his homes by Homeland Security Investigations agents.

“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences,” said the statement from attorney Aaron Dyer. “There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated.”

The searches were part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Combs was not detained and spoke to authorities, and neither he nor any family members were arrested, nor has their travel been restricted, according to Dyer’s statement.

Dyer said the “unprecedented ambush” has led to a “premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.”

“There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations,” Dyer said. “Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”

Combs’ sons, Justin and Christian “King” Combs, were handcuffed during the raid at their father’s residence in Los Angeles. King, 25, is a music artist whose song “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” with Kodak Black topped Billboard’s Mainstream R&B Hip-Hop charts in 2022.

Law enforcement conducted the raid Monday at Combs’ multimillion-dollar mansion in the affluent Holmby Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles and his Miami waterfront home. Along with a heavy presence of officers, command trucks were parked outside both properties.

The criminal investigation is a major escalation in the scrutiny of Combs, who has been the defendant in several sexual abuse lawsuits in recent months.

In a lawsuit Combs settled the day after it was filed in November, his former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, sued him alleging years of sexual abuse, including rape. The lawsuit said he forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he filmed them.

In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.

Another of Combs’ accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her two decades ago when she was 17.

Combs and his attorneys have denied all of the lawsuits’ allegations.

The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Cassie did.

It is not clear whether the search is related to any of the allegations raised in the lawsuits.

Combs is among the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades. Formerly known as Puff Daddy, he built one of hip-hop’s biggest empires, blazing a trail with several entities attached to his famous name. He is the founder of Bad Boy Records and a three-time Grammy winner who has worked with a slew of top-tier artists including Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112.

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The Twins won’t set their roster officially until later this week, but they made a series of cuts on Tuesday. At this point, the Opening Day roster appears more or less set.

While the Twins entered camp needing to fill one bullpen spot and one bench spot — which they addressed by trading for outfielder Manuel Margot — in the later days of camp, the number of open bullpen spots had ballooned due to injuries.

Closer Jhoan Duran (oblique), lefty Caleb Thielbar (hamstring) and right-hander Justin Topa (knee) will all begin the season on the injured list, opening the door for the Twins to keep left-hander Kody Funderburk, long-man Cole Sands and hard-throwing righty Jorge Alcala.

Josh Staumont, whom the Twins signed to a one-year deal this offseason, is dealing with a knee issue after slipping in the bullpen on Monday. He reportedly did not come out of that feeling great, and it’s possible he is another candidate to begin the season on the injured list. It was unclear if he would have made the team out of camp anyways as he builds his way back from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, which he underwent last year.

That would appear to leave the final spot to Daniel Duarte, who will head to Kansas City with the club — though they have yet to make his roster status official.

The Twins have been impressed by Duarte, who threw in 31 games in relief for the Cincinnati Reds last season. This spring, the 27-year-old, who issued 20 walks in 31 2/3 innings last season, did not allow a base on balls this spring after making some mechanical changes.

Duarte, a waiver claim, is the only non-roster invite left in camp, meaning if he is to make the team, the Twins will need to clear a spot on the 40-man for him.

With the cuts (pitchers Matt Bowman and Jeff Brigham, catchers Brian O’Keefe and Chris Williams, infielders Michael Helman and Anthony Prato and utilityman Niko Goodrum were reassigned to minor league camp), the Twins now have 32 active players for 26 spots.

Five — Duran, Thielbar, Topa, Anthony DeSclafani and Zack Weiss — will begin the season on the injured list.

Twins line up rotation

Pablo López will take the ball on Thursday when the Twins open their season against Kansas City. Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober will follow him in the rotation, as they have this spring. Ryan will start Saturday’s game and Ober the series finale in Kansas City.

While the Twins have not publicly announced their plans for the Milwaukee series, it would appear as if Louie Varland would be on track for one of those games and Chris Paddack the other, leaving López in line for the home opener next Thursday.

The Twins will leave Paddack in Fort Myers, Fla., to get in his final work of the spring before the starter meets them in Kansas City.

Briefly

The Twins finished off their Grapefruit League slate with a 9-6 win over the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday. Varland gave up six runs in five innings pitched. The Twins officially wrapped up their spring training slate 9-19, the worst record in the Grapefruit League.

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