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Hawaii leaders assess wildfire damage as Maui rescue operations continue. Follow live updates

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:30 GMT

By REBECCA BOONE (Associated Press)Follow live updates about wildfires racing across part of Maui in Hawaii, destroying sections of a historic town on the island and forcing some to flee to the relative safety of the ocean, where the Coast Guard rescued them. The fires forced evacuations in some areas, including the popular tourist spot of Lahaina. The National Weather Service says Hurricane Dora, which is passing south of the island chain at a safe distance, was partly to blame for strong winds driving the flames, knocking out power and grounding firefighting helicopters.Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz and Federal Emergency Management Agency staffers headed to Maui on Thursday morning to assess the damage from devastating wildfires, Schatz wrote on social media.Emergency rescue, recovery and firefighting operations were still underway, so the group would be careful not to interfere with those efforts, Schatz wrote on the X platform, previously known as Twitter.“...

Healey appoints Framingham Police Chief Lester Baker to POST Commission

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:30 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey has appointed Framingham Police Department Chief Lester Baker to the state’s police licensing commission, filling out one of two vacant spots on the powerful board that regulates police conduct and certifications, a source told the Herald.Baker was sworn-in Thursday morning, according to the source, and replaces Pittsfield Police Chief Michael Wynn, who left the force last month. A spokesperson for the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission referred questions to the governor’s office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Baker was present for a virtual Thursday morning meeting of the POST Commission where Executive Director Enrique Zuniga acknowledged his presence at the outset of the meeting.“Welcome, Commissioner Baker, it’s good to have you,” Zuniga said before launching into an update on a disciplinary records database and officer recertifications.A spokesperson for the City of Framingham did not immediately respond to a req...

4 ways restarting student loan payments could impact economy

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:30 GMT

By Elizabeth Renter | NerdWalletAfter more than three years of an interest-free payment pause on federal student loans, millions of Americans will soon be on the hook for monthly payments. The effects could be felt across the economy.How resuming payments will affect a single borrower varies widely, depending on, among other things, whether they stopped making payments at all, how much debt they have, the repayment program they’re in, and their current and future expected income. It also depends on the other expenses competing for a piece of their monthly budget. Because so many people are affected — 43.6 million people hold federal student loan debt, according to the Department of Education — the impact to the economy stands to be broad even if some borrowers don’t have a difficult time adjusting.Currently, there is $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt outstanding, according to data from the New York Fed’s first quarter Household Debt and Credit Report. This will come down by...

Column: Finding mecca, a journey into Chicago’s basketball culture

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:30 GMT

In order to find mecca, one must take a journey.For four Wednesdays this summer, fans in the flyest pairs of sneakers and trendiest fashions lined up at a high rise in the city’s West Loop neighborhood. Some show up an hour or more before the start time of the Jumpman Summer Series to ensure they can get into one of the most exclusive basketball events.Basketball, local basketball, is a dominant color in the fabric of Chicago’s sports culture. It has birthed high school legends whose names still carry weight in local gyms and NBA stars whose impact on the game will be remembered for years to come.Over the past two weeks, I’ve attended both the Summer Series and Wilson basketball’s Chi-League held at Whitney Young High School. Current NBA players such as Dalen Terry (Chicago Bulls), Wendell Carter Jr. (Orlando Magic), Kendrick Nunn (Washington Wizards) and Talen Horton-Tucker (Utah Jazz) can be seen playing alongside NBA G-League, WNBA and college players incl...

Maui surveys the burned wreckage caused by the deadliest US wildfire in years

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:30 GMT

By AUDREY MCAVOY, JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER and NICK PERRY (Associated Press)WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — The search of the wildfire wreckage on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of burned out homes and obliterated communities as firefighters battled the stubborn blaze that has already claimed 36 lives, making it the deadliest in the U.S. in recent years.Fueled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the fire started Tuesday and took the island by surprise, racing through parched growth and neighborhoods in the historic town of Lahaina, a tourist destination that dates to the 1700s and is the biggest community on the island’s west side.Maui County said late Wednesday that at least 36 people had died, making it the deadliest U.S. blaze since the 2018 Camp Fire in California, which killed at least 85 people and laid waste to the town of Paradise. The Hawaii toll could rise, though, as rescuers reach parts of the island that had been unreacha...

How San Diegans can help those affected by Maui wildfires

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:30 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- As wildfires ravage Maui, thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes with little to no belongings. With the confirmed death toll surpassing 35 people Thursday, many here at home in San Diego County are asking how they can help. Locally-based MMA fighter Ilima-Lei Macfarlane -- a Hawaii native -- is raising funds and accepting donations through her non-profit known as the Nā Wahine Toa Foundation. ‘It felt like we were in hell’: Men jump in ocean to escape Maui fire "Maui will need help in the rebuilding and resettlement phase...San Diego, let’s activate and stockpile what we can until it’s time to send the kākoʻo," Macfarlane wrote on Instagram.The Hawaiian fighter announced four drop-off locations throughout the county where donations can be made over the next few weeks. Here's a list of those spots with hours of operation:-- 10th Planet San Diego: Located at 6008 Mission Gorge Rd. in San Diego, donations will be accepted Monday-Friday from 6 a.m. to n...

Italy probes a migrant boat disaster that left 41 feared dead. Four survivors tell a harrowing tale

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:30 GMT

ROME (AP) — An Italian prosecutor investigating last week’s capsizing that left 41 migrants feared dead in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday denounced Tunisia-based smugglers who launch boats so badly built that they quickly take on water, overturn or break apart. The capsizing earlier this week was the latest in a string of similar recent tragedies that have killed dozens of people who entrusted themselves to smugglers based on Tunisia’s shores to reach Italy in hopes of finding a better life.Four young migrants who were rescued by a passing merchant ship following the Aug. 4 capsizing told doctors and police on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa where they were brought on Wednesday that they survived by clinging to air tubes for hours. They and a few other survivors spotted an empty boat and struggled to reach it. But only the four of them made it to the boat and climbed aboard — only to find the iron-hulled, open-topped vessel had no engine. State TV reported that t...

Streamer Kai Cenat says he is ‘beyond disappointed’ in mayhem at NYC event

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:30 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The 21-year-old social media influencer who was charged with inciting a riot after a crowd of thousands of his followers erupted in chaos in New York City last week says he is “beyond disappointed” in the bad behavior.“Beyond disappointed in anybody who became disruptive that day, bro,” streamer Kai Cenat said on Twitch on Wednesday. Speaking publicly for the first time since some of his followers jumped on cars and hurled bottles during the Aug. 4 mayhem in Manhattan’s Union Square, Cenat added, “None of that is cool, bro, you feel what I’m saying?”Thousands of fans of Cenat, who has millions of followers on Twitch, YouTube and other platforms, showed up in Union Square after Cenat announced that he would be there giving away video game consoles and other electronic devices.A crowd of mostly young people packed into Union Square Park, with some running running through nearby streets, swinging objects at car windows and climbing on top of buses.Police sai...

First Nations argue against nuclear waste site near Ottawa River at safety hearing

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:30 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada’s nuclear regulator heard final arguments from Indigenous communities on Thursday regarding a proposed nuclear waste facility near the Ottawa River.The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission paused its decision to move ahead with a nuclear waste facility located in Chalk River, Ont., about 180 kilometres northwest of Ottawa, last year.The site also sits within a kilometre of the Ottawa River, or the Kichi Sibi as it is known in the Algonquin language.Kebaowek First Nation and Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg’s traditional territories surround the river, in both Ontario and Quebec, and they have staunchly opposed the site’s development.Reneé Pelletier, a lawyer who made submissions on behalf of both First Nations, said they were not adequately consulted on the proposed site, and that consultation was done too late in the process.“CNSC staff were very clear they were not interested in revisiting aspects of the (environmental) assessment that had already tak...

NOAA doubles the chances for a nasty Atlantic hurricane season due to hot ocean, tardy El Nino

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:30 GMT

Record hot ocean temperatures and a tardy El Nino are doubling the chances of a nasty Atlantic hurricane season this summer and fall, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday.With the Atlantic hurricane season already well above normal so far, NOAA increased how many storms to expect and how busy the season can get. The agency says there’s a 60% chance for an above normal hurricane season, twice the agency’s May forecast which said it was 30%. The earlier forecast leaned more toward a near normal season with a 40%, but the chance for normal has now shrunk to 25%.Although the NOAA outlook doesn’t forecast storm tracks or what places will get hit, a busy season like the one forecast means “there is a doubling of the chance of a hurricane making landfall on the East Coast of the U.S.,” said Matthew Rosencrans, lead hurricane season forecaster with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.NOAA is now forecasting between 14 to 21 named storms, which is an inc...