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Greek authorities arrest 2 for arson while firefighters battle wildfires across the country

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:13 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Fire department officials in Greece arrested two men Saturday for allegedly deliberately setting fires, while hundreds of firefighters battled wildfires that have killed at least 21 people in the past week.One man was arrested on the island of Evia for allegedly setting fire to dried grass in the Karystos area. The fire department said the man confessed to having set four other fires in the area in July and August. A second man arrested in the Larissa area of central Greece also was accused of intentionally setting fire to dried vegetation.Officials have blamed arson for several fires in Greece over the past week. It remains unclear what sparked the country’s largest blazes, including one in the northeastern region of Evros, where nearly all the fire-attributed deaths occurred, and another on the fringes of Athens.“Some … arsonists are setting fires, endangering forests, property and above all human lives,” Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minist...

Wild horses that roam Theodore Roosevelt National Park may be removed. Many oppose the plan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:13 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The beloved wild horses that roam freely in North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park could be removed under a National Park Service proposal that worries advocates who say the horses are a cultural link to the past.Visitors who drive the scenic park road can often see bands of horses, a symbol of the West and sight that delights tourists. Advocates want to see the horses continue to roam the Badlands, and disagree with park officials who have branded the horses as “livestock.”The Park Service is revising its livestock plans and writing an environmental assessment to examine the impacts of taking no new action — or to remove the horses altogether.Removal would entail capturing horses and giving some of them first to tribes, and later auctioning the animals or giving them to other entities. Another approach would include techniques to prevent future reproduction and would allow those horses to live out the rest of their lives in the park.The horses h...

An EF-2 tornado knocks down trees and injures at least 6 in Pennsylvania

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:13 GMT

MILL RUN, Pa. (AP) — An EF-2 tornado brought down trees and damaged homes as well as a resort and campground in southwestern Pennsylvania, injuring at least six people, authorities said.The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh said an EF-2 tornado with peak winds estimated at 120 mph (193 kilometers) was on the ground for more than two miles (three kilometers) in Fayette County shortly after 2:30 a.m. Friday.A storm survey just southeast of Connellsville found that the tornado snapped or uprooted trees across Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park resort and campground in Mill Run, where several hundred campers were present. Trees fell on RVs, cabins, and other structures and three tents were destroyed. Officials said three people were injured by falling trees.“There were large, large trees on vehicles, cabins and campers that people had taken there,” Susan Griffith, public information officer for the Fayette County Emergency Management Agency, told The (Uniontown) Herald-Standard.Yogi Bear’...

Stingray impales Florida woman's back, misses lung by centimeters: 'Super, super painful'

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:13 GMT

RUSKIN, Fla. (WFLA) – A woman from Tampa Bay is recovering after being impaled by a venomous stingray which buried its barb inches into her back, just missing her lungs. Kristie Cataffo-O'Brien said she and her husband visited Bahia Beach in Ruskin, Florida, to grab lunch and hang out in the water. They were knee-deep when the barb of a stingray impaled her.“He was like, 'Stay still, don’t move,'” Cataffo-O’Brien told Nexstar's WFLA. “He was kind of holding my weight and the stingray’s weight in the water." Florida officials warn residents amid simian sightings Cataffo-O’Brien described the pain as excruciating.A stingray barb is seen piercing Kristie Cataffo-O'Brien's back after an incident at a beach in Ruskin, Florida. (Kristie Cataffo-O'Brien)“I felt something sting me right away. I felt like it was a jellyfish maybe or something, but it was super, super painful,” said Cataffo-O’Brien. "I started to stand up, and that's when he was like, 'No, don't move at all, there's a sting...

COVID summer surge: Should you get a booster now or wait?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:13 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – COVID cases are still on the rise, but an updated vaccine could be more than a month away. That leaves some concerned people in a predicament: get boosted now, or wait?As of August, the latest version of the vaccine we have available is the "bivalent" shot, which was released last year. It was designed to target the highly contagious omicron variant of COVID, which is still the dominant variant to this day. However, studies show the bivalent shot's effectiveness wanes substantially over time.And over the past year, omicron has spawned many subtypes, each with a name composed of letters and numbers. The most common over much of the past year have been the XBB strains.The new booster, which should be available by end of September or early October, is a monovalent vaccine, specifically made to target XBB. As COVID surge continues, is the booster still working against new variants? Whether they want the protection now or not, many people have to wait for the XBB-targeting ...

'It's game over': What Prigozhin's end means for Wagner Group

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:13 GMT

(The Hill) – Wagner Group’s fate is hanging in the balance after leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and top field commander Dmitry Utkin were both presumably killed in a fiery plane crash.The private military company — a once wide-reaching empire that has helped prop up authoritarian regimes in several African countries and played a significant role in Russia’s invasions of Ukraine — will increasingly come under Russian President Vladimir Putin’s control, analysts told The Hill.Putin and his military officials must decide what parts of the group to keep, what to discard — and how to keep the mercenaries in line.  US citizens urged to leave Belarus immediately John Hardie, the deputy director of the Russia Program for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Wagner will be easier for Moscow to control “with Prigozhin, Utkin, and other top figures out of the picture.”“But without its core commanders, it won’t be the same organization,” he wrote in an analysis sent to The Hill. “An...

Reina, a once-closed Rainey St. bar, reopens at new location

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:13 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – A little over a year after closing its Rainey Street location, Reina, a once-popular Austin bar, announced it has reopened. Reina announced in August 2022 that it could no longer operate out of its Rainey Street locale due to city plans to develop the area for additional residential buildings.  MORE: 'We knew this was coming’: Another bar on Rainey Street set to close for new residential development projects On Wednesday, Reina staff posted on social media that it would open its doors again – this time, a couple of blocks over at 214 Trinity St. On Instagram, the Reina account said the bar would host a soft opening at its new downtown location featuring three local DJs. The popular bar has yet to say when the doors of the new venue will open permanently. 

St. Louis man sentence for life for Spanish Lake murder

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:13 GMT

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man has been sentenced to life in prison along with an additional 15 years in connection to a murder that occurred in Spanish Lake in spring 2021.On Friday, August 25, Christopher Bolden, 32, was sentenced to life in prison plus 15 years for the murder of Antonio Green on April 20, 2021. During the sentencing hearing, the victim's mother and father both addressed the court.On May 18, a St. Louis County jury found Bolden guilty of Murder 2nd Degree, Unlawful Use of a Weapon, two counts of Armed Criminal Action, and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.Bolden committed the murder by firing into a parked vehicle in St. Louis County. At the time, Bolden was a convicted felon. The victim, Antonio Green, was in a relationship with Bolden's ex-girlfriend, the mother of two of Bolden's children.  Horrific crimes of serial killer Timothy Wayne Krajcir Bolden had contacted his ex-girlfriend over 100 times through calls and texts before driving to her resid...

The Freak Brothers Team Up with Weedmaps for Season 2

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:13 GMT

Former LA Weekly cover boys, The Freak Brothers, are teaming up with Weedmaps for in-episode integrations for cannabis enthusiasts, starting with the launch of Season 2 today. The Freak Brothers have been getting laughs out of cannabis enthusiasts the world over for 55 years. Thanks to WTG Enterprises, the producer of The Freak Brothers and Fox’s streaming platform Tubi, more people than ever have access to the trio’s cannabis-fueled adventures alongside their talking cat. The production value of the first season was way beyond most cartoons. In addition to great animation, the voice cast featured Woody Harrelson, John Goodman, Pete Davidson, Tiffany Haddish, Adam Devine, Blake Anderson, Andrea Savage, La La Anthony and ScHoolboy Q. All of those big names are returning and they’ll be adding Joe Sikora to the mix for a special guest appearance.Weedmaps, one of the most recognizable names in cannabis, is obviously hyped to be in this effort to help further cannabis into the mainstream...

Mailbag: All about Washington State and Oregon State, from the Pac-2 and a reverse merger with the MW to the bylaws and “war chest”

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:13 GMT

Given the quantity of questions this week and the unresolved future of the Pac-12’s remaining schools, the Hotline will publish a two-part mailbag. The first installment appeared Friday.Send questions to [email protected] and include ‘mailbag’ in the subject line. Or hit me on Twitter: @WilnerHotline.Please note: Some questions have been edited for clarity and brevity.Do Oregon State and Washington State need the Pac-12 to stay intact for them to retain the assets? Otherwise, it would be split between all teams? — @CamKodeWe have a lot to address with the Beavers and Cougars, and this is a great place to start.First, let’s assume the ACC offers membership to Stanford and Cal next week. (We attach a 70 percent probability to that outcome. Momentum is trending in favor of the schools following their financial concessions.)At that point, the Beavers and Cougars would be the only remaining members of the Pac-12 as of next summer.Best we can tell, they w...