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Lightning sparks fire at American International College building in Springfield

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:46 GMT

A building of the American International College in Springfield suffered significant damage Thursday after a lightning strike, the college’s president said in a statement. The Springfield Fire Department first said its crews were on scene around 5:30 p.m. battling a second alarm fire the American International College’s Courniotes Hall at 1000 State Street. Photos from the scene showed flames burning through the building’s roof as crews poured water on the fire.In his statement, College President Hubert Benitez said lightning struck Courniotes Hall Thursday afternoon. Campus police later searched the building and confirmed no one was inside, according to Benitez. Courniotes Hall houses the American International College’s nursing problem in addition to classrooms for health science courses.In the wake of Thursday’s lightning strike and fire, Benitez said the college “is committed to taking all actions necessary to ensure that we provide students with continuity i...

'Grandma' the dog left paralyzed by coyote in Solana Beach

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:46 GMT

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- In North County, a dog named "Grandma" is recovering after a coyote attacked her Monday night at her home in Solana Beach.The owner of the dog is a teacher in Carlsbad, and her students and parents held a bake sale for the dog’s medicine and treatment.  The dog has grown on a lot of the kids at the school, they even gave her the name Grandma.  Dozens of the students showed up to a bake sale outside of their school, Mission Estancia Elementary, to raise money for Grandma’s care.  “She is my ride or die. We are together 24 hours a day for over a decade,” said Kelly Griffin, Grandma’s owner.  Click here if you’d like to donate to Grandma.  Grandma is a one-eyed, 13-year-old Chihuahua, and a classroom favorite at Mission Estancia Elementary School in Carlsbad.   Dog trainer assaulted by skateboarders in Balboa Park: police “She’s just really calm, she doesn’t bark, she doesn’t need a whole bunch of stuff in class,” said Brooklyn Willia...

Areas of Ocean Beach under advisory for bacteria in the water

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:46 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- As hot temperatures plague the region, many are flocking to the beach to beat the heat. But, a new advisory issue for areas of Ocean Beach may put a stop to some beachgoers plans.Officials issued an advisory for the OB Pier at Newport Avenue, advising people to not get in the water because of high bacteria levels, exceeding the state's health standards.The advisory for the OB Pier at Newport Avenue was just added Thursday morning. However, testing along the southside of the jetty in OB showed normal levels. On the other side of the jetty, at the Dog Beach at OB, the water remains under the same advisory, and has been since June 16.To check for updated beach water quality information.“Advisory bacteria levels exceed health standards, contact with water may cause illness," signs read along Ocean Beach. DUI suspected in deadly crash near border “It’s just annoying the constant water problems in our county," Gavin Warlaumont, a local surfer said. Warlaumont said it's a wa...

North Korean leader Kim shares center stage with Russian, Chinese delegates at military parade

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:46 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shared center stage with senior delegates from Russia and China as he rolled out his most powerful, nuclear-capable missiles in a military parade in the capital, Pyongyang, marking a major war anniversary with a show of defiance against the United States.State media said Friday Kim attended Thursday evening’s parade with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese ruling party official Li Hongzhong from a balcony looking over the city’s main square. The streets and stands were packed with tens of thousands of mobilized spectators, who roared in approval as waves of goose-stepping soldiers, tanks and huge, intercontinental ballistic missiles wheeled out on launcher trucks filled up the main road.Kim’s latest display of his military might comes as tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest in years. North Korea has dialed up its weapons tests to a record pace in recent months and the U.S. has responded by stre...

As illegal crossings drop, the legal challenges over Biden’s US-Mexico border policies grow

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:46 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Immigration advocates said Thursday that an online appointment system to seek asylum at the U.S. border with Mexico is out of reach for many migrants, in the latest legal challenge to t he Biden administration’s immigration agenda. The lawsuit says the administration, often working with Mexican authorities, has physically blocked migrants from claiming asylum at land crossings with Mexico unless they have an appointment through the CBP One app. It says the app is “impossible” for those with inferior internet access, language difficulties or lack of technical know-how. Appointments are capped at 1,450 a day.“CBP One essentially creates an electronic waitlist that restricts access to the U.S. asylum process to a limited number of privileged migrants,” according to the lawsuit by advocacy groups Al Otro Lado and the Haitian Bridge Alliance and would-be asylum-seekers from Mexico, Haiti, Nicaragua and Russia who say they couldn’t get appointments...

Green Bay woman wasn’t mentally ill when she killed and dismembered a former boyfriend, jury finds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:46 GMT

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — A Green Bay woman wasn’t mentally ill when she killed and dismembered a former boyfriend and scattered his body parts at various locations, a jury found Thursday.The same Brown County jury that deliberated less than an hour Wednesday before convicting Taylor Schabusiness, 25, of homicide, third-degree sexual abuse and mutilating a corpse in the February 2022 killing of Shad Thyrion, 24, needed less than an hour Thursday to find she didn’t suffer from mental illness or defect at the time.Brown County Circuit Judge Thomas Walsh set sentencing for Sept. 26, news outlets reported.Schabusiness strangled Thyrion at the Green Bay home he shared with his mother, sexually abused him and dismembered his body, leaving parts of it throughout the house and in a vehicle, authorities said. She appeared to suffer from a range of mental issues when she was evaluated at the Brown County Jail in 2022 and 2023, said Diane Lytton, an independent psychologist who testif...

Four homes in Northwest Territories lost in wildfire, road closed: fire agency

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:46 GMT

YELLOWKNIFE — An out-of-control wildfire in the Northwest Territories has destroyed four homes in a community about 100 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife. Wildfire information officer Mike Westwick says the fire has reached the community of Behchoko in Rae.The territory’s wildfire agency had initially said five homes were lost but has since revised the total to four.Westwick says the wildfire is about 45 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife and that while the capital is not at risk at this time, crews are preparing to address future threats.Westwick says a portion of Highway 3, which connects Behchoko to Yellowknife, has been closed and crews are focusing on dousing spot fires and protecting homes in the community of Behchoko.He says visibility remains an issue for the 64 firefighters responding to the fire in the area.This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2023.The Canadian Press

A US group is accusing Mexican bishops of covering up for priests implicated in sex abuse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:46 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A U.S.-based group issued a list Thursday of 16 Mexican bishops and high-ranking clerics who allegedly covered up for priests accused of sexual abuse.Massachusetts-based BishopAccountability is a non-profit organization that keeps track of how the Catholic hierarchy deals with allegations of sexual abuse by clergy. The group said Thursday that the Roman Catholic Church officials, some now retired, had “covered up for” abusers. “We have now identified some leaders of the Catholic Church who appear to have covered, covered up for, abusers and discarded their victims,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, of BishopAccountability.org.The list included Cardinals Norberto Rivera Carrera and Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, and Archbishops José Martín Rábago, Fabio Martínez Castilla, Felipe Aguirre Franco, Luis Morales Reyes, and Rafael Romo Muñoz.A representative of the Mexican Council of Bishops said the claims were based on news reports without formal complaints or legal cases....

The legacy of Rocky Wirtz with the Blackhawks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:46 GMT

Tab Bamford of Bleacher Nation Blackhawks talked about the life and legacy of late Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz on "9 Good Minutes" on WGN News Now.CHICAGO — It's a time of mourning and reflection for current and former members of the Chicago Blackhawks franchise after the death of their leader this week.W. Rockwell Wirtz, better known to everyone as Rocky, died at the age of 70 this week after a brief illness. He was just the fifth principal owner in the history of the team, serving as the Blackhawks' chairman since 2007 when his brother Peter passed it to him following his father Bill's death. Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz dies at 70 During Wirtz's with the franchise, the team did a complete transformation both on an off the ice, as the owner brought the Blackhawks into a new era with a number of moves that pleased old fans and attracted new ones. Rocky was always around the United Center, visible in the stands instead of the suites and constantly interacting with those rooting ...

Five revelations from new Trump charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:46 GMT

(The Hill) — Federal prosecutors’ superseding indictment against former President Trump in his classified documents case on Thursday has brought to light several new charges and revelations.Trump now faces a total of 40 criminal counts in the case — three more than he did previously — after prosecutors added allegations that Trump pushed to delete surveillance footage at Mar-a-Lago and willfully retained an additional sensitive document.Here are five revelations from the new court filings. DeSantis won’t say if indictments should disqualify Trump in 2024: Voters ‘make those decisions’ Trump is accused of seeking to delete footageProsecutors laid out a new set of allegations that Trump acted with two aides in attempts to delete surveillance footage at Mar-a-Lago after prosecutors subpoenaed it in June 2022 in connection with their investigation.The subpoena required Trump’s business to produce surveillance footage from areas near the storage room and other locations within the Flor...