Home

How Fairfax Co. is trying to make it easier to own an electric car

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

Electric vehicle charging stations could be coming to some Fairfax County, Virginia, neighborhoods where residents don’t have garages or driveways to store them.As part of its Charge Up Fairfax pilot program, the county’s Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination has picked 10 communities where it’ll help homeowners and condo owners associations with installing the stations.Five HOAs were selected as part of the pilot earlier this year, and another five were picked last week. Those interested have to apply.“Everyone says, ‘The best place to charge is at home,’” said John Morrill, OEEC’s acting director. “The reality is, for many households, especially those living in condominiums or homeowners associations, they don’t have a driveway of their own, or a garage attached to their house where they can just plug in their car into their own plug.”An engineering firm conducts a site assessment in the selected neighborhoods, Morrill said, and if the area decides to buy and install an ...

German soccer fans going silent at games this weekend to protest Bundesliga investment deal

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

MUNICH (AP) — Soccer fan groups across Germany plan to fall silent at games this weekend to protest the league’s plan to sell a stake in TV and marketing income to an outside investor.Fan clubs and groups known as “ultras” from many of Germany’s largest clubs, including Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, said on Friday they will fall silent for the first 12 minutes of their teams’ upcoming games in a reference to the influence of fans as the proverbial 12th player of a soccer team.“We are not prepared to stand idly by as German soccer gets sold out,” the groups said in a joint statement.The protests made their mark on games in the top two divisions on Friday. Fans forced a five-minute stoppage by throwing chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil onto the field after keeping quiet for the first 12 minutes of Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen. A second-division game was briefly halted after fans lit flares.Supporters have been protesting wit...

Xcel Energy natural gas, electricity bills to lower in 2024

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Xcel Energy told Colorado customers Friday that they can anticipate lower heating bills in the first quarter of 2024 because the wholesale cost of natural gas has decreased.Xcel said the average residential natural gas customer could see a decrease of $4.87 per month, or about 4.64% of their bill, compared to the end of 2023. December is shaping up to be one of the warmest on record For the first quarter, the average residential customer's bill can be expected to be about $100.02, compared to the first quarter of 2022 when bills were about $139.13. This is a year-over-year decrease of about 28%.Natural gas bills for the average small business will also decrease from the first quarter of 2022 to about $429.46 per month, compared to $615.91 — a decrease of about 30%.The average residential customer's electric bills are also anticipated to drop by $2.20 per month or about 2.47%, compared to the end of 2023.Xcel prices will be approved by Colorado commissionThe compa...

Nurse's mission leads AdventHealth to donate 9 AEDs to Littleton schools

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Littleton Public Schools will be a little safer, thanks to a generous donation of nine SaveStation AEDs from AdventHealth Littleton Foundation.These AEDs, or automated external defibrillators, will all be installed outside of Littleton Public School buildings. The first was installed near the athletic fields of Euclid Middle School, and it's all thanks to one nurse's mission. Greeley teacher surprised with ‘Oscar of Teaching’ Milken Educator Award Kara Baker, a cardiology nurse, lost her father, Ed Walsh, to a sudden cardiac arrest in 2018 while he was watching his granddaughter play soccer outside an elementary school. The school was equipped with an AED, but the device was locked into the school where no one could reach it.Since her father's death, Baker is on a mission to install AEDs outside schools.A ribbon cutting was held for the first AED outside the Euclid Middle School on Friday.A ribbon cutting was held for the first AED installed outside Euclid Middle ...

Christmas events in Broward, Miami-Dade aim to spread holiday cheer to children in need

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

Children across South Florida are getting the chance to check off some items from their Christmas wish list. The Pantry of Broward County usually hands out food throughout the year, but on Friday, it was toys.Over 60 grandparents who are raising their grand kids will receive a big bag of toys, giving those kids a Christmas they’ll never forget. “To be a grandmother of four, I sure appreciate it a lot,” said Ivon. In Miami-Dade, children took part in the Miami Heat’s toy giveaway. They got to pick out some pretty cool stuff and even get some love from the Heat’s mascot, Burnie. The event started 16 years ago with a dad who loved the Heat and kids. ‘It’s tremendously important we carry on the traditions that our dad started,” said Amy Share Brennan, the daughter of the founder of the giveaway. “It was always important to him to give back to the community and that every child has a present for the holidays.” Over in Midtown, k...

Hialeah teen accused in mother’s fatal stabbing to remain at juvenile wing of adult facility, judge says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

A judge has reached a decision as to whether or not a 13-year-old boy accused of killing his own mother in their Hialeah apartment will move back to a juvenile-only facility.Late Friday afternoon, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Richard Hersch decided Derek Rosa will remain in the juvenile wing within Metro West Detention Center, an adult facility.The judge’s decision comes after testimony from instructors who are teaching Rosa different school subjects. Prosecutors, meanwhile, argue that the teen is receiving the appropriate care that is required by law. “So in addition to the mental health counselors, the doctors, the inmates and the teachers, you are just an additional person who checks on the juvenile inmates to make sure everything is going as smoothly as it can while they are in custody?’ said the prosecutor to a witness.“Yes,” the witness replied. The judge kept questioning some of the witnesses for the defense and the relevance of the information as it...

Family of 9-year-old girl sues BPS, transportation company amid allegations she was sexually assaulted on bus

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the family of a 9-year-old girl against Boston Public Schools and Transdev Services, alleging that both failed to protect the girl from being repeatedly sexually assaulted by another student while riding the bus home from school from Match Charter Public School in Hyde Park.In a statement, Morgan & Morgan alleged that over the course of seven months during the 2022-2023 school year, the plaintiff was repeatedly sexually assaulted and raped on the bus by an 11-year-old classmate and “not only suffered great physical and mental harm, but she was forced to leave school just a few months shy of finishing fourth grade for fear of the physical or social repercussions, impacting her academic and social development.” The complaint alleges when the school became aware of the sexual assault, an investigation uncovered that despite Transdev requiring this specific bus to have mandatory video equipment onboard, no video was found for any of ...

Battenfeld: Hunter Biden’s questionable new strategy is blame Trump and MAGA Republicans

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

MAGA Republicans didn’t procure strippers for Hunter Biden. They didn’t force him to evade his taxes. Or earn millions from sketchy foreign companies.But that isn’t stopping the younger Biden from blaming Donald Trump and the GOP for his legal peril.Good luck.Let’s hope Hunter’s not getting the same legal advice the three college presidents got testifying before Republicans in Congress about antisemitism on their campuses.They walked into the hearing thinking they could easily outsmart 39-year-old New York Rep. Elise Stefanik. But instead they were trapped by their own words and inexplicable refusal to denounce hate speech and violence against Jewish students.Hunter Biden is now the latest Democrat to take on MAGA Republicans heading the president’s impeachment proceedings.“I’m here, I’m ready,” the arrogant Hunter said outside the Capitol, daring Republicans to grill him in public. “MAGA Republicans ridiculed my struggle with addiction. They belittled my recovery and they hav...

Waltham police officer Paul Tracey laid to rest: ‘This is the hardest thing we’ve ever had to do’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

The entire city of Waltham and police from all over lined Trapelo Road to say their last goodbyes to Officer Paul Tracey, who’s life was cut short while doing his job.An American flag flew high above as bagpipers led a procession of heartbroken colleagues and family members to the same church where Tracey got married.“As a family, this is the hardest thing we’ve ever had to do,” Jim Tracey told thousands who gathered for his brother’s funeral at Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Church on Friday. “Where do we begin? How do you capture in words in just a few minutes the life of a man who meant so much to so many?”Paul Tracey, a 28-year member of the Waltham Police Department, died at age 58, “doing what he loved most, protecting and serving the citizens of Waltham,” his brother Jim said.Tracey’s life came to an abrupt end the afternoon of Dec. 6 when a man allegedly drove through a Waltham construction site, striking and killing him and National Grid utility worker Roderick J...

Another strong storm to hit Massachusetts with heavy rain, strong winds, flooding: ‘Plan ahead if traveling’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

Well at least the first two strong storms of December aren’t snowy.For the second straight week, a spring-like storm will pound the Bay State with heavy rain, strong winds and flooding.Local meteorologists are warning residents that the storm will snarl the Monday morning commute, telling people to “plan ahead if traveling.”The strong storm moving up the coast is expected to bring heavy rainfall, mild temps and strong coastal winds from Sunday night into Monday, according to the National Weather Service. Some river and coastal flooding will be possible.“It looks like light precipitation will be moving in later Sunday for the Boston-area, and then the rain chances increase Sunday night through much of Monday,” Bill Leatham, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Boston office, told the Herald.“Rainfall could potentially be heavy when folks are commuting Monday morning,” he added. “People should plan ahead if traveling, an...