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Climate change doubled chance of weather conditions that led to record Quebec fires, researchers say

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:24 GMT

Climate change more than doubled the chances of the hot, dry weather that helped fuel the unprecedented wildfire season in eastern Canada that’s driven thousands from their homes and blanketed parts of the U.S. with choking smoke, according to an analysis released Tuesday.What’s more, human-caused climate change made the fire season in Quebec — from May through July — 50% more intense than it otherwise would have been and increased the likelihood of similarly severe fire seasons at least sevenfold, researchers said.“The biggest takeaway is, this is because of us that we have seen so many fires this year,” due to greenhouse gas emissions, said Yan Boulanger, a research scientist in forest ecology for Natural Resources Canada. He was one of 16 researchers who collaborated on the analysis for World Weather Attribution, an initiative that aims to quickly evaluate the role of climate change in the aftermath of extreme weather events.Canada is in the middle of its worst ...

Study: Colorado in top 10 for the most identity theft and scams

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:24 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- A recent study found that Colorado is one of the top 10 states hit the hardest by scammers and identity thieves.The study, done by investment and exchange service company IPX1031, analyzed data from the Federal Trade Commission to determine which states and cities were hit the hardest in 2022. Giving back: Aurora fraternity delivers supplies to 4th-graders There were 1,113 reports of fraud and identity theft per every 100,000 Coloradans in 2022, ranking Colorado as the 10th-most impacted state, according to the study.On that note, there were no specific Colorado cities mentioned in the top 10 list of cities in the U.S. with the most fraud and identity theft reports.Crypto and tax scams lead the rankingsThe Centennial State was still in the top 10 in other categories.Colorado ranked No. 8 comparing the states with the most people affected by investment scams, with 229.9 reports per million, according to the study.Upwards of $3.913 billion were lost in the U.S. to i...

1 person dead, 2 in custody after stabbing in Lynn

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:24 GMT

One person died and two people were taken into custody after a stabbing in Lynn Tuesday, the Essex County District attorney’s office announced. The DA’s office said the stabbing happened at the Alpha Convenience Store in the Freeman Square area around 6 p.m. The victim, the DA’s office said, was taken to a local hospital where they were pronounced dead.While an investigation was ongoing as of Tuesday night, the DA’s office said investigators believe there is no broader threat to the general public. 

Trump out, eight others in for first GOP debate: who made the cut and who didn’t?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:24 GMT

The candidates vying to unseat Donald Trump from the top of the Republican presidential ticket will get their chance to go after the former president in absentia.Trump, according to his social media postings and made more apparent by reporting that Fox News has banned his staff from the debate spin room, will not be joining his fellow conservatives in the time honored tradition of shouting over one another and the moderators while ostensibly attempting to explain why they are the best person to, in the parlance of the former president, “make America great again.”Besides the 45th president, eight Republican White House hopefuls have qualified to take the stage in Milwaukee, for what is sure to be a political spectacle for the ages as candidates walk the very thin line between explaining why they should be president instead of Trump without alienating the MAGA faithful.Without the former commander-in-chief present for his opponents to confront directly, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis may h...

Massachusetts retailers losing $2 billion a year to ‘organized criminal theft activity’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:24 GMT

With Dick’s Sporting Goods on Tuesday saying rampant theft is seriously impacting its bottom line, a leading retail advocate for Massachusetts estimated that local businesses are losing about $2 billion a year to “organized criminal theft activity.”Dick’s Sporting Goods reporting that its profit slipped in its second quarter and blaming theft at its stores “is not surprising,” Retailers Association of Massachusetts President Jon Hurst told the Herald.“A number of companies have reported the effect of this organized criminal theft activity on their bottom line,” Hurst added. “We’ve certainly seen more of this organized stealing, and this smash-and-grab.“Stores have actually closed,” he said. “You can only keep a store open for so long when you’re losing money on it.”For the second quarter that ended July 29, Dick’s earned $244 million, or $2.82 per share. A year earlier, the company earned...

Over 7,000 impacted in South Bay power outage

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:24 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- An outage in the South Bay left over 7,000 San Diego Gas & Electric customers without power Tuesday evening, according to the utility company.The outage, which started at 4:38 p.m., impacted four circuits in the neighborhoods of Logan Heights, Mountain View and Lincoln Park. A total of 7,117 people are estimated to be without power at the beginning of the outage.As of 5:20 p.m., 571 customers connected to one of the four circuits remained without power. According to SDG&E, electricity is expected to be resorted at 10 p.m.The cause of the outage has not yet been determined by the utility company.This comes several days after Tropical Storm Hilary brought widespread power outages to SDG&E customers in the region, due to heavy rain and wind.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Tropical Storm Franklin nears the Dominican Republic and Haiti bringing torrential rain

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:24 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Authorities in the Dominican Republic shut schools and government offices Tuesday as Tropical Storm Franklin took aim at the island of Hispaniola that it shares with Haiti and threatened to unleash landslides and heavy floods.The storm was expected to make landfall on the island Wednesday and drop up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain in both countries, with up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) in isolated areas. Heavy rainfall is of great concern to Haiti, where severe erosion in many places can lead to catastrophic flooding.Dominican officials announced the closures of schools, government offices and businesses until Thursday. It also planned to close its main international airport and five others through Wednesday. In Haiti, where a day of heavy rain from a thunderstorm in June left more than 40 people dead, government officials urged caution but did not announce closures, though schools are already shuttered for summer holiday until mid-September.In t...

Asylum-seekers are being set up for rejection at a New Mexico detention facility, rights groups say

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:24 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M (AP) — A coalition of human rights groups on Tuesday leveled new criticism at a privately operated migrant detention facility in New Mexico where they say fast-track asylum screenings routinely take place without legal counsel or adequate privacy during sensitive testimony.The rights groups say the broken screening system at the Torrance County Detention Facility means that migrants with strong, viable claims to asylum — who can’t go back to their country because of persecution or the threat of torture — are instead being screened out inappropriately for deportation as the Biden administration seeks to impose severe limitations on migrants hoping for asylum at the border. The 187-page complaint and findings were made by the American Civil Liberties Union and three advocacy groups that provide legal services to asylum-seekers. They’re urging the U.S. government to end its contract with the private company that runs the facility, which is overseen by Immigration an...

Kerry Washington, Martin Sheen shout for solidarity between Hollywood strikers and other workers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:24 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kerry Washington and Martin Sheen, a pair of fictional former politicos, turned Hollywood’s strikes into a rousing campaign rally Tuesday with speeches celebrating unity across the industry and with labor at large.“We are here because we know that unions matter,” said Washington, who played a political fixer on ABC’s “Scandal.” “Not only do we have solidarity within our union, we have solidarity between our unions, because we are workers.” The rally outside Disney Studios in Burbank, California, coming more than a month into a strike by Hollywood actors and more than three months into a strike by screenwriters, was meant to highlight their alliance with the industry’s other guilds and the nation’s other unions, including the Teamsters and the AFL-CIO. “The audacity of these studios to say they can’t afford to pay their workers after they make billions in profits is utterly ridiculous,” Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Yvonne Wheel...

Libya’s stability at greater risk after deadly militia clashes, turmoil in Niger and Sudan, UN says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:24 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Libya’s stability is at greater risk following recent militia clashes and amid turmoil in neighboring Sudan and Niger that could spill over into the oil-rich North African nation, the country’s U.N. special envoy said Tuesday.Abdoulaye Bathily told the U.N. Security Council that political divisions in Libya “are fraught with risks of violence and disintegration for countries.” He urged the country’s rival factions to resolve all election-related issues so that long-delayed voting can take place.“It is fundamental to restore Libya’s stability, to preserve regional security,” he said. “Without an inclusive political agreement that paves the way for peaceful, inclusive and transparent elections across Libya, the situation will worsen and cause further suffering to the Libyan people.”Libya plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. The country split in the chaos that followed, with rival admin...