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Rise in ‘illegal’ taxis puts Montreal passengers at risk, airport authority warns

Published Sat, 15 Feb 2025 23:11:52 GMT

MONTREAL — The Montreal airport has an illegal taxi problem, says its regulatory authority, which is calling for a crackdown.Since January, nearly 400 tickets for infractions related to vehicles operating without a proper permit have been issued, according to the Aéroports de Montréal (ADM).“Sometimes we see taxis with fake Uber stickers on their cars, or even we’ve seen cars with fake taxi domes,” said airport authority spokeswoman Anne-Sophie Hamel.Other incidents involve legitimate taxis that don’t have a permit to operate at the airport, Hamel said, or freebooters that don’t even bother to dress up as a cab or ride-hailing service.Bloated prices, aggressive solicitation and even threats make up some of the concerns.“What we see and what we hear from passengers is that they go to them and they take their luggage almost without even asking,” Hamel said.These drivers tend to target international arrivals, who may be less familiar with the airport and local taxi protocols, she...

Daily horoscope for April 13, 2023

Published Sat, 15 Feb 2025 23:11:52 GMT

Moon Alert: Caution! Avoid shopping or important decisions from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT today (7 a.m. to 2 p.m. PDT). After that, the Moon moves from Capricorn into Aquarius.Happy Birthday for Thursday, April 13, 2023:You are confident and goal-oriented. You keep your wits about you in the midst of chaos. Trust in your success. Service to others, especially family, will be a theme this year. Therefore, take care of yourself so you can be of support to others. Time for a makeover?ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★Most of today is a Moon Alert. Postpone important decisions until tomorrow. Likewise, during the Moon Alert today, restrict spending money to food and gas. Don’t volunteer for anything and don’t make promises you can’t keep. Tonight: Be friendly.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★Today you might go overboard with plans to travel or when dealing with authority figures. You might feel intensely about something. Meanwhile, most of this day is a Moon Alert, which means tread ca...

How the EU reduces greenhouse gases beyond CO2 

Published Sat, 15 Feb 2025 23:11:52 GMT

Find out how the EU works to reduce emissions from greenhouse gases besides CO2.As the EU works hard to reduce CO2 emissions, it is also making efforts to regulate other greenhouse gases heating up planet Earth, such as methane, fluorinated gases - also known as F-gases - and ozone-depleting substances. Although they are present in smaller volumes than CO2 in the atmosphere, they can have a significant warming effect.MEPs call for ambitious emission reductions of fluorinated greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances. They support the European Commission’s proposals to encourage the use of alternatives to fluorinated greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances where possible or to put measures in place to reduce their leakage and emission during production or use.On 30 March 2023, Parliament adopted its positions on fluorinated gas emission reductions and ozone-depleting substances, enabling it to start negotiations with EU governments.Find out more about the non-C02-greenh...

Miss Manners: She was the one with the bad meal, but I think I should get compensated

Published Sat, 15 Feb 2025 23:11:52 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: When my friend and I shared a hotel room at an event, we split the cost. At the hotel restaurant one evening, my friend found an unknown object in her food. At checkout, the hotel credited our room $100 for the mishap, and I split the discount between the two of us.The next day, she called to say that since the $100 credit was to her, we should not have split it and I owed her $50. I sent her a check, but she still said she was surprised that I even tried splitting it.Although technically the $100 refund was hers, had the situation be reversed, I would have handled it that way since we are good friends and were splitting the room cost. Was I rude to have assumed she should have split the difference?GENTLE READER: If your friend had ordered champagne and room service while you had toast and a cup of tea, would you have split that bill? If so, Miss Manners will allow that this was an honest misunderstanding between friends that was cleared up when you paid up.DEAR M...

Man pleads to involuntary manslaughter in Bay Area student athlete’s death

Published Sat, 15 Feb 2025 23:11:52 GMT

On the day his Solano County Superior Court preliminary hearing was to begin, a 20-year-old Fairfield man on Wednesday pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter for the fatal Easter 2021 shooting of a Vanden High student athlete in Fairfield.Daniel Dejon Hughes, 17 (Courtesy photo/Katie Marshman) Seated at the defense table in Department 9, James Sterling Shawn Williams, listening closely to Judge Carlos R. Gutierrez’s questions, first heard the judge note that the maximum sentence he could impose was four years and eight months in state prison but it appeared likely the judge would impose three years eight months instead.The judge dismissed one count, but Williams, as the remaining charges were read, uttered “no contest” not only to the main charge but also to the illegal discharge of a firearm and possession of a semi-automatic handgun, factors that led to the April 4 shooting of Daniel Dejon Hughes, 17.With the no-contest pleas, Williams did not admit guilt but essentia...

2 men take deal in fatal stabbing of Santa Cruz high school student

Published Sat, 15 Feb 2025 23:11:52 GMT

SANTA CRUZ — Avoiding a murder trial set to begin later this month, codefendants in the 2009 fatal gang stabbing of a 16-year-old Santa Cruz High School junior instead agreed to plea deals this week.Paulo Luna and Ivan Tapia Ramirez, both 36, separately pleaded no contest to reduced charges in negotiated deals with the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office.The defendants were the last of five men charged 13 years ago with the gang-related murder of Tyler Tenorio. Luna, arrested after he was extradited from his native Mexico in August 2020, is slated to receive a six-year prison sentence minus credit for time served, according to court documents. Ramirez, arrested in February 2019 after a similar extradition from Mexico, is expected to face an 11-year prison sentence, a judge said Wednesday. The two are pending sentencing hearings scheduled for the coming months.Tyler Tenorio, 16-year-old Santa Cruz High student, was stabbed to death on Laurel Street on Oct. 16, 2009. (Family ...

Armored truck robbed at gunpoint outside Capitola bank

Published Sat, 15 Feb 2025 23:11:52 GMT

CAPITOLA — A security officer driving an armored vehicle was held at gunpoint outside of Bay Federal Credit Union’s Capitola branch on Clares Street Wednesday morning.According to a social media post from Bay Federal, the robbery occurred outside of the bank around 11:15 a.m.Capitola Police Capt. Sarah Ryan told the Sentinel that by the time officers arrived, the individual had taken “an undisclosed amount of money” and fled the scene. No one was injured.As of about 3:30 p.m. law enforcement was still looking for the suspect who, according to Ryan, “appears to be a male” based on video footage.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | 2 men take deal in fatal stabbing of Santa Cruz high school student Crime and Public Safety | Florida man arrested in alleged Berkeley, Palo Alto sexual assaults Crime and Public Safety | Elizabeth Holmes loses bid to delay imprisonment; judge recommends Texas prison camp known for spartan conditions Crim...

Sen. Alex Padilla visits Pajaro River with local, federal officials

Published Sat, 15 Feb 2025 23:11:52 GMT

Sen. Alex Padilla speaks on Wednesday during a press conference on McGowan Road in North Monterey County after touring the Pajaro River Levee. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)Sen. Alex Padilla, center, tours the Pajaro River Levee on Wednesday with Rep. Jimmy Panetta, far right, and other officials. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)Sen. Alex Padilla is flanked by Rep. Jimmy Panetta as he speaks at Wednesday’s press conference. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)Sen. Alex Padilla visits Pajaro on Wednesday. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)A podium adorned with the seal of the United States Senate is set up adjacent to a strawberry field on Wednesday prior to the arrival of Sen. Alex Padilla. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)Show Caption of ExpandPAJARO — Sen. Alex Padilla made a stop on the Pajaro River just outside Watsonville Wednesday to promote federal efforts to bring aid to the region following the floods that devastated t...

2 former California police officers charged with assault for shooting at unarmed man left paralyzed

Published Sat, 15 Feb 2025 23:11:52 GMT

Two former Whittier police detectives used unnecessary force when they shot at an unarmed, mentally ill man who was running away from them, with one of the shots severing his spinal cord and leaving him paralyzed from the waist down, said Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón from the Hall of Justice on Wednesday, April 12.Gascón said Cythnia Lopez and Salvador Murrillo, who no longer work for the Whittier Police Department, erred when they shot multiple times at Nicholas Carrillo after approaching his car in an alley south of Walnut Street, between Comstock and Greenleaf avenues near Uptown Whittier, mid-morning on April 30, 2020.Carrillo, of Whittier, was the driver of a Mitsubishi sedan the detectives saw pull into the alley at around 11:40 a.m. In his passenger seat was a woman accused of stealing a television from a Whittier Target weeks earlier. Lopez and Murrillo, who were investigating the TV robbery, recognized her and followed the vehicle.The detectives, who w...

How baseball’s new rules are changing the game, and how they aren’t

Published Sat, 15 Feb 2025 23:11:52 GMT

Around this time a year ago, complaints about the state of baseball were not limited to pedants, pundits, and old men yelling at clouds. The league-wide batting average by the end of April 2022 was .231. Mario Mendoza, the light-hitting infielder of the 1970s and 1980s whose name is synonymous with below-average hitting, batted .231 in 1981. To some, the game had changed beyond recognition.As it often does, batting average crept up as the season progressed. By the end of the season, it reached .243, still the lowest over a full season since 1968. Then as now, Major League Baseball decided it was time to change the rules.Batting average is about as helpful to diagnosing the balance between hitting and pitching as a digital thermometer is to diagnosing a sick patient: useful, but incomplete. It tells us a lot about the effectiveness of the new rules, but not everything.Here are a few early observations about what’s changed, and what hasn’t:1. Batters are being rewarded with more hits ...