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Massive New Jersey Pine Barrens fire now fully contained

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:59 GMT

MANCHESTER, N.J. (AP) — A fire that tore through 6 square miles (15 square kilometers) of New Jersey’s Pine Barrens this week has now ben fully contained, authorities said Thursday.The blaze in Manchester, near Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, forced the evacuation of around 170 homes late Tuesday, with police and fire officials going door-to-door to ask people to take temporary shelter at a nearby high school.Firefighters were confronted by 200-foot (60-meter) flames as they battled the blaze, which rained down embers. Helicopters filled large containers with water from a nearby lake Wednesday and dropped it on the flames.No one was injured and no homes were damaged, The cause remains under investigation.Forest fires are a common occurrence in the Pine Barrens, a 1.1 million-acre state and federally protected reserve about halfway between Philadelphia to the west and the Atlantic coast to the east.Dry, windy conditions similar to those in New Jersey have sparked fires in other sta...

‘Potentially devastating’: Bird flu cases in mammals put scientists on alert

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:59 GMT

A rise in mammals infected with bird flu has put Canadian wildlife and public health experts on alert, as recent research by federal scientists warns of a “potentially devastating pandemic” if the virus tearing through poultry flocks eventually mutates to spread efficiently between humans. Avian influenza cases are very rare in humans – there have been fewer than a dozen confirmed H5N1 cases globally since 2020 – and no instances of it passing from human to human. But experts say public health agencies are right to keep a close eye on how the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 evolves.“There are enough red flags that we’re beholden to prepare,” said Dr. Samira Mubareka, an infectious disease specialist and clinician scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute and the University of Toronto.H5N1 was first identified in 1996, but a new type of the virus emerged in 2020. It was first detected in North America in late 2021 and has since decimated flocks of wild...

Alex Wolff, Thea Sofie Loch Næss cast in Leonard Cohen bioseries ‘So Long, Marianne’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:59 GMT

TORONTO — An upcoming Crave TV drama about the legendary romance between Leonard Cohen and his muse Marianne Ihlen has found its lead stars.Producers of “So Long, Marianne” say they’ve cast U.S. actor Alex Wolff to play Cohen and Norwegian actress Thea Sofie Loch Næss as Ihlen.The series recalls a period in the 1960s when the pair met on the Greek island of Hydra when they were in their early 20s.She ended up inspiring the song “So Long, Marianne” which appeared on Cohen’s 1967 debut album “Songs of Leonard Cohen.”Crave and Norwegian co-producer NRK say principal photography began for the series on March 24 and it will film in Montreal, Hydra and Oslo.Other cast members include Australian actress Anna Torv, who recently appeared as Tess in “The Last of Us,” playing bohemian Australian novelist Charmian Clift.Noah Taylor, who played Darby on “Peaky Blinders,” will portray her husband and fellow writer George John...

City announces priority travel routes to alleviate Ontario Line traffic woes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:59 GMT

Traffic in downtown Toronto is already a nightmare, but it’s about to get markedly worse once Ontario Line construction commences in the downtown core in a couple of weeks.The multi-billion dollar transit expansion will fully close Queen Street from Victoria to Yonge streets and Yonge to Bay streets starting on Monday, May 1, 2023.To prepare for the inevitable traffic chaos, the City announced in a release on Thursday that it will launch Priority Travel Routes that will be “kept clear of as many road restrictions as possible – including non-emergency utility work – to ensure that there are alternative and parallel routes for people to get around.”The first priority route will be Dundas Street from Jarvis to Bathurst streets, starting on May 1, to coincide with the start of construction connecting the Ontario Line to the TTC’s Queen Station.“Until summer 2024, this stretch of Dundas Street will only have emergency work; on-street parking will be restricted and...

MIA: No sign of Canadian quick-reaction force first pledged to UN in 2017

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:59 GMT

OTTAWA — The United Nations may soon start questioning Canada’s definition of “quick” now that the government has given itself three more years to deliver a 200-soldier force for peacekeeping.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first committed Canada to providing a quick-reaction force in November 2017 when he hosted a major international peacekeeping summit in Vancouver.UN officials at the time welcomed the commitment, which coincided with Canada’s campaign for a temporary seat on the UN Security Council.But Canada ended up losing that campaign, and six years later, it still hasn’t made good on the promise to deploy a quick-reaction force.The UN and the United States have pressed Canada since then to create the force, and the Liberals insist it remains on the table.But after having already given itself an extension last year on an initial five-year deadline, the government says it now has until March 2026. This report by The Canadian Press was first publishe...

'Mr. Beef': Free adoption for dog who honors Chicago Italian beef legend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:59 GMT

CHICAGO — In honor of a local Italian beef legend, a pair of companies and a local shelter teamed up to try to get a "beefy" dog adopted.Last month, the founder of Mr. Beef, Joseph Zucchero, died unexpectedly at the age of 69. The longtime shop stands at 666 N. Orleans St. and was the inspiration for the hit FX show "The Bear."According to the Associated Press, the Italian beef legend was “elated” when Christopher Storer, creator of “The Bear” and a childhood friend of Zucchero's son, centered the show on his shop.“He was very proud of that,” son Christopher Zucchero said.After his death, in lieu of flowers — family directed donations to the Chicago shelter One Tail at a Time.One Tail at a Time wanted to pay tribute to such a generous gesture, so they got to work on finding a perfect dog to represent Zucchero."It was extra special to pay tribute," said Director of Development Maggie Hudson. "We reached out to the intake team and said, 'can you find an extra beefy dog to name Mr. Bee...

DOJ will ask Supreme Court to pause restrictions on abortion pill use, mailing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:59 GMT

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday said the Department of Justice (DOJ) will ask the Supreme Court to pause a ruling that would roll back changes that make it easier to access mifepristone, the common abortion pill.U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk last week ruled that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) violated federal standards when it first approved mifepristone 23 years ago, staying the agency’s initial approval of the pill.Late Wednesday night, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that mifepristone may remain on the market as the federal government’s appeal proceeds, but it meanwhile allowed portions of the Texas judge's ruling to stand that would roll back a series of actions the FDA has taken since 2016 that eased access.Those changes included allowing the mifepristone to be sent through the mail, lifting a requirement for three in-person visits, approving a generic and approving the drug’s use up to 10 weeks into a pregn...

Former Illinois labor union president admits embezzlement scheme

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:59 GMT

BENTON, Ill. - A former labor union president from Alton, Illinois, appeared in federal court Tuesday and admitted embezzling more than $200,000 from the organization.Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois said Byron Clemons, 35, pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen money.According to court documents, Clemons served as president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 124 from June 2017 through January 2022. Between February 2021 and January 2022, Clemons withdrew $202,100 from the union's U.S. Bank account, and used that money for personal expenses and to gamble at casinos.“Labor unions exist to promote the interests of the working men and women who make up their ranks. But instead of promoting the interests of his members, Clemons used his position to enrich himself and get cash to gamble at casinos,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Cutchin said. Clemons will ...

Lake Mead's unexpected water level rise continues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:59 GMT

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — In a surprising move, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is releasing much more water from Lake Powell in an effort to shore up Lake Mead's water level. Beginning on April 1, 2023, Reclamation began the process of releasing more than twice the previously scheduled amount of water downriver through the Glen Canyon Dam. "The release volume from Glen Canyon Dam for April 2023 will be increased to 910,000 acre-feet because of the increased snowpack throughout March," Reclamation Public Affairs Officer Becki Bryant told Nexstar's KLAS.Historic (10-year) release volumes from Lake Powell. (Source: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation)This directive came from Reclamation's Upper Colorado Basin office. The spike in the total amount of water being released can be seen on charts provided by Reclamation. The last time this amount of water was suddenly released, according to Reclamation, was at the end of March 2021."They are doing several things at once. And they a...

El Niño watch issued: Here's what that means

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:59 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The likelihood of transitioning to an El Niño climate pattern has continued to increase, prompting the Climate Prediction Center to issue an El Niño watch.According to the Climate Prediction Center an El Niño Watch is issued "when conditions are favorable for the development of El Niño conditions within the next six months." El Niño: The history and impacts We're currently not experiencing El Niño. In fact, we're in an ENSO Neutral pattern, which means neither La Niño or El Niño. Remember, ENSO stands for El Niño Southern Oscillation and is the name for the climate pattern impacted by the warmer- or cooler-than-normal waters of the Eastern Equatorial Pacific. When the waters are within 0.5ºC of normal, we're considered ENSO Neutral, and no predictable changes in our weather pattern are expected to result from the water temperature in that part of the Pacific.Chances of El NiñoThe odds of El Niño have ramped up significantly over last month's update. Last month ENS...