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Hotels are doing Elf on the Shelf and in-room trees so you don’t have to

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:57:14 GMT

Lily Girma | (TNS) Bloomberg NewsHoliday to-do lists can overshadow the fun of the season. There’s gift shopping, decorating, hosting parties and keeping the kids entertained—plus cleaning it all up come January.It’s tempting to want to escape the whole thing. A handful of luxury hotels from Colorado’s snowy peaks to the Caribbean’s warm beaches are dialing up their amenities so you can get away while still experiencing the season’s cheer in all its glory. Hotels are offering in-room tree decorating (ornaments provided), hot chocolate delivered by “elves,” festive cookies at turndown service and even a butler specifically catering to the kids’ Elf on the Shelf doll.While in-room Christmas trees aren’t a novel concept, the options for pre-arrival customized tree décor are getting elaborate. Then there’s the hugely popular Elf on the Shelf tradition that has grown over nearly two decades, which families around the world adopt at the start of the season: A miniature “Santa scout elf” t...

Make sure your Christmas tree is healthy, hydrated, and not a fire hazard with these expert tips

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:57:14 GMT

Henry Savage | The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)PHILADELPHIA — As the trend of buying Christmas trees earlier becomes more common, whether because of post-Thanksgiving holiday spirit or tree supply shortages rewarding the early bird, taking better care of your home Christmas tree becomes more crucial.This year, local farmers said that Thanksgiving weekend was the busiest sales time of the season, with some growers even closing up shop before December. National trade associations have again urged shoppers to buy trees earlier for the best options due to the persistent stunting of tree growth and supply since 2016. This means for many households, Christmas trees are residing indoors for longer periods, which can lead to headaches and health hazards.Joshua Malik, owner of Lehigh Valley-based Joshua Tree Experts, works to educate people on tree care and safety, especially around winter holidays. He said that there are simple steps to take each day that protect your tree and avoid fire ris...

Drought-prone California OKs new rules for turning wastewater directly into drinking water

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:57:14 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — When a toilet is flushed in California, the water can end up in a lot of places: An ice skating rink in Ontario, ski slopes around Lake Tahoe, farmland in the Central Valley.And — coming soon — kitchen faucets.California regulators on Tuesday approved new rules to let water agencies recycle wastewater and put it right back into the pipes that carry drinking water to homes, schools and businesses.It's a big step for a state that has struggled for decades to have a reliable source of drinking water for its more than 39 million residents. And it signals a shift in public opinion on a subject that as recently as two decades ago prompted backlash that scuttled similar projects.Since then, California has been through multiple extreme droughts, including the most recent one that scientists say was the driest three-year period on record and left the state's reservoirs at dangerously low levels.“Water is so precious in California. It is important that we use it more...

McGill announces $3K award to offset tuition hike for most out-of-province students

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:57:14 GMT

MONTREAL — McGill University says it will offer a $3,000 annual award to new undergraduate students from other provinces to offset a tuition hike imposed by the provincial government.The university says roughly 80 per cent of Canadian undergraduate students who apply to the university would be eligible for the award, beginning in the 2024-2025 school year.The new Canada Award will be guaranteed for up to four years of study as the university tries to maintain enrollment in the face of the province’s plan to increase tuition for out-of-province students to $12,000 per year from from $8,992.McGill University president Deep Saini says in a statement that McGill’s success is built on its ability to attract talent from Quebec, Canada and around the world, and he says the award will allow the institution to remain one of the top in the world. Saini says the award will require the university to make some financial sacrifices but adds that out-of-province students are “par...

Police release video of hit-and-run in Mississauga, driver remains wanted

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:57:14 GMT

Warning: This article contains a video that some readers might find disturbing. Discretion is advised.Peel Regional Police have released surveillance footage of a Mississauga hit-and-run that took the life of a 58-year-old man, who died days later in hospital.Investigators said around 11 p.m., on Friday, Aug. 18, the man was crossing mid-block on Dundas Street east of The Credit Woodlands when he was struck by a dark-coloured 2014-2016 four-door Toyota Corolla, which was travelling westbound on Dundas. The victim was then hit by a second vehicle.The initial suspect vehicle then fled the scene after striking the victim. Police said 58-year-old Jim White sustained life-threatening injuries in the collision and was rushed to a local trauma centre. White died on Sept. 4.Authorities have said the suspect vehicle would have damage to the windshield, the driver’s side front fender, and the driver’s side front wheel well cover over the tire.Investigators have identified and...

Man accused of killing 4 university students in Idaho loses bid to have indictment tossed

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:57:14 GMT

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The grand jury indictment of a man charged with killing four University of Idaho students was conducted properly and will stand, a judge has ruled. Bryan Kohberger is charged with four counts of murder in connection with the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home near the university campus in Moscow, Idaho, last year. Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted. But earlier this year, Kohberger’s team of defense attorneys filed motions asking the judge to throw out the indictment, alleging that the prosecution improperly withheld evidence from grand jurors. Kohberger’s lawyers also said the jurors were biased and that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to justify the indictment. A document detailing the basis for some of the defense claims was sealed, and the judge closed the hearing on the matter to the public. After reviewing transcripts, recordings and o...

More than 2,000 mine workers extend underground protest into second day in South Africa

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:57:14 GMT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — More than 2,000 workers remained underground for a second day Tuesday in a protest over pay and benefits at a platinum mine in South Africa.The mine is owned by Implats, which is one of the world’s biggest platinum miners. The firm has suspended work at the Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine near the city of Rustenburg, and it calls the protest illegal.Representatives from the National Union of Mineworkers went underground to meet with the workers but the protest “remains unresolved,” Implats said.There were no immediate details on how much the workers are paid.More than 2,200 workers began the protest, but 167 had returned to the surface by Tuesday night, Implats said. The workers are in two shafts at the mine in North West province, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of the capital, Pretoria.South Africa is by far the world’s largest platinum producer.Such protests are not unusual. There were two recent underground protests at a gold mine in the city ...

Orange tabby cat named Taters steals the show in first video sent by laser from deep space

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:57:14 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An orange tabby cat named Taters stars in the first video transmitted by laser from deep space, stealing the show as he chases a red laser light.The 15-second video was beamed to Earth from NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, 19 million miles (30 million kilometers) away. It took less than two minutes for the ultra high-definition video to reach Caltech’s Palomar Observatory, sent at the test system’s maximum rate of 267 megabits per second.The video was loaded into Psyche’s laser communication experiment before the spacecraft blasted off to a rare metal asteroid in October. The mission team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, decided to feature an employee’s 3-year-old playful kitty.The video was streamed to Earth on Dec. 11 and released by NASA this week. Despite the vast distance, the test relayed the video faster than most broadband internet connections here on Earth, said the project’s Ryan Rogalin.NASA wants to impro...

Parents and uncle convicted of murdering Pakistani teen in Italy for refusing an arranged marriage

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:57:14 GMT

MILAN (AP) — A court in northern Italy convicted the parents and an uncle of an 18-year-Pakistani woman for her murder in Italy after she refused her family’s demands to marry a cousin in their homeland.Saman Abbas’ body was dug up in November 2022 in an abandoned farmhouse near the fields where her father worked in northern Italy, a year and a half after she was last seen alive on surveillance video walking near the same fields with per parents. Italian prosecutors argued that she was was killed by her family on May 1, 2021. A few days later, her parents flew from Milan to Pakistan.The parents, Shabbar Abbas and Nazia Shaheen, were sentenced to life in prison, while her uncle, Danish Hasnain, was handed a 14-year prison term by a court in Reggio Emilia. Two cousins were found not guilty and ordered released from jail. Abbas, who was extradited from Pakistan in August, professed his innocence during a tearful statement to the court before deliberations. His wife, Shaheen, was ...

Germany protests to Iran after a court ruling implicates Tehran in a plot to attack a synagogue

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:57:14 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Germany protested to Iran on Tuesday after a court ruling implicated the Islamic republic in a plan to attack a synagogue last year.The Duesseldorf state court convicted a German-Iranian man of attempted arson and agreeing to commit arson and sentenced him to two years and nine months in prison.Judges found that the man threw an incendiary device at a school in the western city of Bochum in November 2022 because the neighboring synagogue appeared too well secured, German news agency dpa reported. The defendant denied planning to attack the synagogue. The school received minor damage.The court found the 36-year-old defendant had been tasked with the attack by a former Hells Angels member who had gone to Iran, and that Iran was behind the latter man, dpa reported.A court statement said the defendant tried in vain to persuade an acquaintance to join him in carrying out the attack, and that he ultimately threw the incendiary device at the school “to simulate carrying out t...