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‘Prepared for anything:’ Boston braces for oncoming winter weather

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

City officials once again gathered around one of the city’s mountainous salt piles to announce Boston is braced for any oncoming winter weather — and they urged residents to do their part.“Winter doesn’t stand a chance in Boston, because we are ready,” said Mayor Michelle Wu, flanked by a glittering salt pile and large snow plow in the Public Works Yard Wednesday. “And we know that last winter was particularly mild, and so I’m trying not to jinx it today here in front of the salt pile, but we will be prepared for anything.”The city has 44,000 tons of salt — upping last year by 4,000 tons — and 175 pieces of snow clearing apparatus with 800 more available for snow emergencies, Wu said.Following a notably mild winter last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association forecasted a warmer-than-average winter for the New England region in their 2023-24 Winter Outlook release. In a report released in October, though, Acc...

Boston Mayor Wu dismisses ‘pathetic’ rumors around ambulance calls to her home

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

The mayor fired back at an order from the Secretary of State’s office compelling the City of Boston to release records around what her office described as the “pathetic and baseless” rumored ambulance calls made to her Roslindale home.The city has released two sets of police dispatch reports in response to a Herald public records request, which show numerous instances of police presence at Mayor Michelle Wu’s Augustus Avenue address, but while the incidents list the times and dates of each call, the nature of the response is not explicitly provided.In addition to each documented instance of police presence being listed as “default,” in lieu of providing a description such as it being medical or crime-related in nature as is typical with police logs, the records provided don’t include EMS or ambulance calls, which was requested by Herald columnist Howie Carr in October 2022.Following an appeal by the columnist, the Secretary of State’s office sent a letter to Shawn Williams, the city...

Cash stolen from Vietnamese temple

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A $1,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to the arrest of a man suspected of burglarizing and casing several Vietnamese temples in San Diego.The incidents occurred on Sept. 14 between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., the San Diego County Crime Stoppers, along with the San Diego Police Department's Mid-City Division, said in a news release Wednesday. Five Vietnamese temples in City Heights and southeast San Diego were targeted, including one where the suspect broke into and stole cash from a lockbox, according to law enforcement. At another location, the suspect was escorted out by staff after casing the inside of the temples. Man who caught scrutinized USS Pinckney refit says his cameras are being targeted, once again The suspect is described as a Black man in his 40s, 6-feet-tall and weighing around 240 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black T-shirt, tan shorts and black sandals. His vehicle is believed to be a newer model Volkswagen SUV.A $1,000 reward ...

South African company to start making vaginal rings that protect against HIV

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

A South African company will make vaginal rings that protect against HIV, which AIDS experts say should eventually make them cheaper and more readily available.The Population Council announced Thursday that Kiara Health of Johannesburg will start making the silicone rings in the next few years, estimating that 1 million could be produced annually. The devices release a drug that helps prevent HIV infections and are authorized by nearly a dozen countries and the World Health Organization.The nonprofit council owns the rights to the rings, which are now made by a Swedish company. About 500,00 rings are currently available to women in Africa at no cost, purchased by donors. Ben Phillips, a spokesman at the U.N. AIDS agency, said the advantage of the ring is that it gives women the freedom to use it without anyone else’s knowledge or consent.“For women whose partners won’t use a condom or allow them to take oral (preventive HIV) medicines, this gives them another option,” he said.HIV re...

Leaked document says US is willing to build replacement energy projects in case dams are breached

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — The U.S. government is willing to help build enough new clean energy projects in the Pacific Northwest to replace the hydropower generated by four controversial dams on the Snake River, according to a leaked Biden administration document that is giving hope to conservationists who have long sought the removal of the dams as a key to restoring depleted salmon runs.Still, Congress would have to agree before any of the Lower Snake River dams in Washington state are removed, and that’s unlikely to happen in the near future.The document is a draft agreement to uphold 168-year-old treaties with four tribes in the Pacific Northwest that preserved their right to harvest fish in the river, among other things. The Columbia River Basin was once the greatest salmon-producing river system in the world, with at least 16 stocks of salmon and steelhead, according to the document. But today, four are extinct and seven are listed under the Endangered Species Act. Conservationists...

Louisiana’s tough-on-crime governor-elect announces new leaders of state police, national guard

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Throughout his election campaign, Republican Gov.-elect Jeff Landry promised to prioritize fighting crime in Louisiana, a state that in recent years has had one of the highest homicide rates in the country. On Wednesday, he took steps that he said would help fulfill that promise, appointing a new state police chief and other statewide safety and security leadership positions. Landry said he also plans to call the legislature into a special session to address crime once he’s in the governor’s office. Currently the state’s attorney general, Landry said an integral part of his plan as Louisiana’s chief executive is to improve safety in New Orleans, which has often been in the national spotlight for violent crime. The governor-elect remarked during a news conference that he will bring “as much of a law enforcement presence” as necessary to keep New Orleans safe.But when pressed for specifics on tackling crime in the state’s tourist-friendly and ...

US Navy releases underwater footage of plane that overshot a runway floating above Hawaii reef

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii (AP) — Tires from a large airplane that’s been stuck in a Hawaii bay for more than a week are resting on parts of a reef, according to video the U.S. Navy released Wednesday as it figures out a plan to remove the aircraft. There were no injuries to the nine people who were on board when the plane landed Nov. 20 in shallow water just offshore of Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay. The base is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Honolulu. The Navy is investigating what caused the plane to overshoot a runway. The underwater footage shows the “two points of contact the aircraft has with the coral and the remainder of the aircraft floating above,” the Navy said. The video shows tires on the coral as tiny fish swim through rock crevices. A Navy team removed nearly all of the estimated 2,000 gallons (7,500 liters) of fuel on the plane, Rear Adm. Kevin Lenox said Monday. Cmdr. Mark Anderson, who is leading the Navy’s mobile diving and salvage unit working at t...

South Koreans want their own nukes. That could roil one of the world’s most dangerous regions

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

CHEORWON, South Korea (AP) — Not far from the big green mountains that stand along the world’s most heavily armed border, dozens of South Korean and U.S. combat engineers build a pontoon bridge to ferry tanks and armored vehicles across a lake, all within easy range of North Korean artillery.For seven decades, the allies have staged annual drills like this recent one to deter aggression from North Korea. The alliance with the United States has allowed South Korea to build a powerful democracy, its citizens confident that Washington would protect them if Pyongyang ever acted on its dream of unifying the Korean Peninsula under its own rule.Until now. North Korea’s repeated threats to launch nuclear weapons at its enemies and its tests of missiles designed for pinpoint strikes on U.S. cities have made South Koreans lose faith in America’s vow to defend their country. The fear is that a U.S. president would hesitate to use nuclear weapons to defend South Korea while knowing North Korea ...

Kim’s sister rejects US offer of dialogue with North Korea and vows more satellite launches

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday dismissed U.S. calls for a return to diplomacy and lambasted condemnations of the North’s recent spy satellite launch, vowing more launches in violation of U.N. bans.During a U.N. Security Council meeting earlier this week, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, called the North’s satellite launch a “reckless, unlawful” action that threatens its neighbors. But she reiterated the U.S. offer for dialogue without any preconditions, saying North Korea “can choose the timing and topic.”Kim’s sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, rejected the U.S. overture and threatened more satellite and other weapons launches.“The sovereignty of an independent state can never be an agenda item for negotiations, and therefore, (North Korea) will never sit face to face with the U.S. for that purpose,” Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media.“(North Korea) will contin...

Total GivingTuesday donations were flat this year, but 10% fewer people participated in the day

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Nonprofit organization GivingTuesday estimates that donors gave $3.1 billion this year on what has become one of the most important fundraising days of the year — the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Donations were up $20 million on Tuesday, a 0.6% increase over last year before adjusting for inflation, the nonprofit said. GivingTuesday makes its estimate by drawing on data from donor management software companies, donation platforms, payment processors and donor-advised funds. “On the one hand, this is fantastic,” said Woodrow Rosenbaum, GivingTuesday’s chief data officer. “Tens of millions of people in the U.S. came together once again to have a huge impact for causes they care about, including donating an enormous amount of money in a 24 hour period.”But the number of donors was down about 10% from 2022, which Rosenbaum called a worst case scenario for the sector: “We’re seeing less dollars from the big donor that we’ve been relying upon and fewer grassroots dono...