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Rare May heat wave brings worries for further floods and wildfires

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:40 GMT

VICTORIA — A spell of unseasonably warm weather in the forecast for many parts of British Columbia is raising concerns for further flooding and wildfires.John Innes, a professor in the faculty of forestry at the University of B.C., says he’s especially worried about the wildfire risk in the northeast as temperatures rise.He says it looks like a “serious weather event” is occurring, with a ridge of pressure expected to produce prolonged heat with little to no rain in the forecast.There are nearly 50 fires burning throughout B.C., most of which are small, but the area they’ve scorched has grown significantly in recent days.The latest update posted by the BC Wildfire Service shows the burned area of about 11,500 hectares is more than triple the 10-year average for the same time of year.The vast majority of the area scorched is in northeastern B.C., where the Peace River Regional District is maintaining evacuation orders and alerts in response to two fires, one o...

Florida driver in 116-mph fatal house crash gets 27 years

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:40 GMT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man who was driving his Tesla at least 116 mph (186 kph) before crashing into a house and killing two people in 2021 has been sentenced to 27 years in prison.Vaughn Mongan, 45, of Palm Harbor, was sentenced Monday in Pinellas County court, the Tampa Bay Times reported. He pleaded guilty in March to two counts of vehicular homicide and three counts of reckless driving with serious bodily injury.Mongan was driving nearly four times the legal speed limit on a Tampa Bay-area road in September 2021 when he blew through a stop sign at a T intersection, hit a grassy embankment, crashed through a fence and slammed into the home, officials said. The speed limit on the road was 30 mph (48 kph). The vehicle was not on autopilot.A passenger in the car, Travis Meisman, died in the crash. Also killed were Donna Rein and her dog, who were inside the home. Three other passengers in the car were seriously injured.The Associated Press

California to pay $24M for man’s death in police custody

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:40 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California will pay a $24 million civil rights settlement to the family of a man who died in police custody after screaming “I can’t breathe” as multiple officers restrained him while trying to take a blood sample, lawyers said Tuesday. Seven California Highway Patrol officers and a nurse were charged with involuntary manslaughter earlier this year in connection with the 2020 death of Edward Bronstein, age 38. Annee Della Donna and Eric Dubin, attorneys for Bronstein’s young children, said it’s the largest civil rights settlement of its kind by the state of California, and the second largest nationally since the city of Minneapolis paid $27 million in the George Floyd case. The attorneys scheduled a news conference in Los Angeles for Wednesday to provide details. The settlement comes amid renewed scrutiny of potentially fatal restraints following last week’s death of a New York City subway rider, Jordan Neely, who was placed in a chokehold ...

Missing climbers in Alaska likely triggered avalanche, fell

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:40 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Two mountain climbers missing in Alaska likely triggered a small avalanche, and officials said Tuesday the projected path of their suspected fall would end at a heavily crevassed glacier.“That is the area we are focusing our aerial search efforts in the days to come,” Denali National Park and Preserve spokesperson Maureen Gualtieri said.Eli Michel, 34, of Columbia City, Indiana, and Nafiun Awal, 32, of Seattle, are presumed to have fallen Friday while climbing the West Ridge route of Moose’s Tooth — a 10,300-foot (3,140-meter) mountain in Ruth Gorge, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) southeast of Denali, the tallest mountain in North America, park officials said.No aerial search was planned Tuesday because of low visibility and snowfall in the gorge.The two men last contacted friends via a satellite communication device at about 5 a.m. Friday. Two days later, friends contacted park officials when they hadn’t heard back from the climbers.Mountaineering rangers u...

Warm up ahead with 70-degree weather in Chicagoland

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:40 GMT

Another beautiful day in Chicagoland as temperatures on Wednesday are expected to be in the high 70s with a high of 80 degrees on Thursday. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here

Carroll says verdict is win for every woman who 'suffered because she was not believed’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:40 GMT

Writer E. Jean Carroll said the verdict that found former President Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming her is a win for every woman who “suffered because she was not believed.” “I filed this lawsuit against Donald Trump to clear my name and to get my life back. Today, the world finally knows the truth. This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed,” she said in a statement. A nine-member jury did not find that Trump had raped Carroll but found him liable for sexual battery and defamation Tuesday after an almost two-week trial. The jury ordered Trump to pay about $5 million in damages overall. Carroll said Trump raped her in 1996 in New York City in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room. Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations and claimed that he did not know Carroll. She first went public with her story in 2019 and sued Trump in November under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which opened a one-year wi...

'Tornado alley' could be shifting to include Illinois, says state climatologist

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:40 GMT

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WTVO) — The state climatologist says data suggests that "tornado alley" may be shifting eastward to include Illinois.Dr. Trent Ford, who has been the Illinois State Climatologist since 2019, said the state has seen an unusually high number of tornadoes this year. According to the National Weather Service, Illinois leads the nation in the number of confirmed tornadoes, with 86 so far this year and 22 in March alone.Illinois also leads every state in severe weather reports this year aside from Texas."Our peak is between April and June climatologically, so to get that many tornadoes, basically a year’s worth of tornadoes just in January, February, and March is really incredible,” Ford said, according to The Center Square.“This area here in Illinois and especially further south as you get into parts of Tennessee, Mississippi and down to the Gulf Coast has seen an increase in at least a frequency of those tornado days,” he said.In Belvidere, an EF-1 tornado ripped off th...

Illinois rideshare bill affecting Uber, Lyft passes Senate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:40 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — A new bill opposed by ridesharing companies Uber and Lyft is moving closer to becoming law, a move that the companies say could force them to end services in Illinois.The bill follows a case in which a Chicago woman sued Lyft after claiming she was sexually assaulted by the driver. Lyft argued since their drivers were defined by Illinois law not to be common carriers, they were not liable for any damages.A bill in the state capitol would remove the exemption of drivers of rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft, and lump them in with carriers such as bus drivers, train conductors, airline pilots, and taxi drivers, who have “vicarious liability”: if a bus rider for an unsafe ride sues the driver, the bus company can also be found liable for employing an unsafe driver under Illinois law.Lyft officials are strongly opposed to the bill. They argue with the current laws in place, only 0.0002% of their rides have a registered safety incident. Representatives...

House to debate broad border powers expansion in challenge to federal law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:40 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- The Texas House on Tuesday evening is set to debate legislation to significantly expand the state's authority over the U.S. border.House Bill 20 by Tyler Republican Matt Schaefer would create the "Border Protection Unit" as a new agency under the Texas Department of Public Safety. Officers in that unit would have authority to arrest unlawful border crossers, build border barriers, search vehicles, use force against cartels and more. Their jurisdiction would extend not just to border areas, but to every part of the state."Our limited law enforcement personnel cannot effectively address fentanyl smuggling across our border when they're spending their time processing people," Schaefer said. "We have to restore order to the Texas border. House Bill 20 will invoke legal authorities in the United States Constitution which allow a state to defend itself when poison is being pumped into our neighborhoods."The bill asserts that drug and human smuggling on the southern bor...

'Shock, disbelief': Kyle church closing child care program, families left frustrated

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:40 GMT

KYLE, Texas (KXAN) - Families in Kyle are scrambling to find child care after a program provided by First Baptist Church Kyle announced its closing. "Shock, disbelief, a little bit of panic, right? Because now, where are we going to put our child?" said parent, Abigail Silva. Her daughter attends the Mother's Day Out Program offered at the church. "It allows families to have part time child care at an affordable rate and it's Christian based," Silva said. She was planning on sending her youngest there as well, but that's not possible anymore. RELATED COVERAGE: Austin City Council studying solutions for childcare affordability Now, she worries her family will go from paying around $400 a month to double that. "For a lot of families $1,100...$800, you know, a month that's a mortgage payment to a lot of families, that's car payments," Silva said. Along with the financial factor, she's concerned about the availability of child care with waitlists. "When are they going to be able to g...