It could easily happen. La Jolla has already enriched Broadway three times, having originated the productions of “Big River,” “The Who’s ‘Tommy’” and the recent revival of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” Just don’t expect Newman to follow the feel-good tradition of most musical comedy. His outlook, however hummable, is much, much darker. In this modern version of the Faust legend, God is unctuous and out of touch, the Devil is a social climber who just wants to get back to heaven and the title character is a slacker airhead who, when the Devil offers him the old deal of earthly riches in exchange for his soul, blandly asks, “So what’s the catch?...

Grant started out as an occasional puffer. But one cheroot led to another. Several newspapers described him puffing away in the midst of a Tennessee battle in 1862. Grateful supporters of the Union promptly sent him boxes of the choicest brands-10,000 or more in all. Grant’s consumption zoomed to 20 stogies a day, a habit he continued until doctors ordered him to quit in 1884. He died of throat cancer in 1885, after losing 70 of his 200 pounds and becoming addicted to cocaine to ease the pain....

That doesn’t mean Stritch always shows her divine self off to its best advantage. One of the most hilarious stories in “At Liberty” involves an audition for a sitcom back in the 1980s. It seems that Stritch has a habit of inserting a certain four-letter word (see above) into her lines to spice things up. That may play fine in New York, but the folks at NBC were not amused....

To be clear, SpongeBob isn’t the kind of sponge you use to wash dishes. “That’s a cellulose sponge,” Hillenburg says. “Sponges are a colonial animal, which basically means they’re a bunch of cells who work together in order to survive.” Do they have a brain or a heart? “No,” he says, patiently. “They have no nervous system. The behavior is, they sit and siphon water.” Fortunately for us, SpongeBob’s got a little more going on....

Kidnapping incidents, 1999 Columbia: 972 Mexico: 402 Former: U.S.S.R. 105 Brazil: 51 Philippines: 39 Nigeria: 23 India: 17 Ecuador: 12 Venezuela: 12 South Africa: 10 Total kidnapping incidents in the 10 riskiest countries 1999: 1,644 1998: 1,573 1997: 1,391 1996: 1,295 1995: 666 1994: 447 1993: 484 1992: 683

Coming, as it did, during a relatively peaceful and sultry week in late spring, the exhumation of the 12th president fascinated Americans out of all proportion to its possible historical significance. If the experts in forensic anthropology (following story) find lethal levels of arsenic in Taylor’s hair and bones, Lincoln will lose the distinction of being the first president assassinated. Beyond that, Taylor’s alleged poisoning, assuming it was performed by pro-slavery forces, would only underscore what we already know about the enmity between North and South....

ELLISON: Oh, I guess the fact that I’m an American citizen or a civilized person living on the planet Earth. Two things. One is that we have a standard [for national identification] in terms of technology. Credit cards are much harder to counterfeit than a driver’s license, which is our standard government-issued ID. There’s just no comparison. Some credit cards have pictures and a place for your signature and a little magnetic strip with information....

Today’s psychiatry has science–and it is science–and increasingly, it is offering hope for patients with autism. As director of the National Institute of Mental Health, Insel now heads an agency that funds autism research all over the nation and also conducts projects of its own. Thanks to revolutions in neuroscience and genetics, scientists are starting to unravel the shroud of mystery that has hung over autism since it was first described in 1943....

There is a lot of healing to be done. We have almost forgotten that this little boy had the horrendous experience of watching his mother drown. I have not interviewed Elián, but my 40 years of working as a child psychologist with children and parents strongly suggests that Elián has not yet had the chance to deal with the emotional cost of her death. Living with people who were nearly strangers, in a house that was constantly surrounded by chanting, singing crowds, could only compound his confusion....

New York lost again on Friday 4-0, dropping their 24th game out of the last 36 and continuing their utter failure recently to generate any type of offense whatsoever. Although they still hold an eight-game lead in the American League East, frustration is surfacing for the generally level-headed Aaron Boone, who had a message for his team after Friday’s most recent loss. “I don’t give a crap about the lead,” Boone said after the game....

The ninth-year player has made a Pro Bowl each and every season with the Rams and has seven First-Team All-Pro nods, already (deservingly) earning mentions as among the NFL’s greatest players, regardless of position. But he also has a noted history of being an overly enthusiastic enforcer, one who has regularly gotten into it with opposing players and, on occasion, NFL officials. MORE: Rams’ Aaron Donald goes after Cardinals’ D....

The Yankees on Sunday placed Judge, 26, on the 10-day injured list with what manager Aaron Boone called “a pretty significant” strain sustained during a sixth-inning at-bat against the Royals. MORE: Watch ‘ChangeUp,’ a new MLB live whiparound show on DAZN “There’s no need to put a clock on it because of what happened with the wrist last year,” Judge told reporters (via NJ.com) after Sunday’s a 7-6, 10-inning win over the Royals at Yankee Stadium....

Above are Rodgers’ career highlights to date; the reason for two All-Pro and four Pro Bowl selections in seven seasons since taking over for Brett Favre in 2008. MORE: Why Packers are SN’s pick to win Super Bowl | Top 25 quarterbacks 

According to NFL Network’s Mike Silver, the Packers are working on restructuring Rodgers’ deal, though the details of the restructure are a bit murky. A restructured deal would give Rodgers and the Packers a bit more cap money to work with this year, but until the details of the new contract are revealed, there’s a big ol’ question mark in the way of what that could mean for the team for now and in the coming years....

In front of a new record of 61,024 NFL fans at the home of Spurs, Green Bay completed the full set by becoming the 32nd and final NFL franchise to play a game in the UK. Often at London games the “home” team is purely nominal, but here the Packers faithful turned out in force after their long wait, clearly dominating the stands with a huge noise pregame and in the early knockings....

Rodgers said it was difficult to “lose a guy over a meaningless game” following an injury to his teammate Jordy Nelson, who reportedly suffered a torn ACL on the Packers’ first drive. MORE: Photos from Packers training camp | Green Bay still has options at wide receiver Injuries are part of football. Maurkice Pouncey and Stephon Tuitt went down for the Steelers in the same game. But Rodgers brings up a valid point....

MORE: Join DAZN and watch more than 80 fight nights a year Four years earlier, Snowell had been a figure of ridicule in boxing following Mike Tyson’s sensational loss to James Douglas in front of a silent Tokyo audience. The doubt surrounding his boxing capabilities derived solely from Snowell’s blossoming relationship with Don King, who was Tyson’s promoter, and the necessity of a scapegoat to restrict the damage inflicted on Mike’s career....

The Iowa Supreme Court reversed a lower-court decision that Finkenauer, a former Iowa congresswoman, ​​failed to qualify for the June 7 Democratic primary ballot because three signatures she submitted as part of the petition process didn’t have the correct date. “The GOP’s attempts to undermine ballot access and our election process were pathetic and desperate,” Finkenauer wrote on Twitter. “Today they lost. With a unanimous decision by the Iowa Supreme Court, we’re still in this fight and we WILL beat Chuck Grassley in November....

The move is an effort to encourage people to receive the vaccination, and authorities will begin restricting access to shopping malls, restaurants, cafes, sporting events, museums, gyms, schools and universities in Abu Dhabi, the Associated Press reported. A “green pass” system has already been implemented that limits public access to those who are vaccinated or can show proof of testing negative for coronavirus. The Emirati government says that at least 93 percent of the capital’s population has received at least one dose o the vaccination....

I can only see an inch in front of my face without contact lenses, so having a reliable source to buy them is something I take very seriously. Even still, it usually comes as a surprise to me when I’m “suddenly” running low. This is where the convenience of online ordering is key, as getting into (and ordering from) the eye doctor can be a lengthy and expensive experience. Reputable online contact lens retailers sell the same high-quality products and can often get them to you in less time for less money....