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Franks: Human error caused Hawaii’s wildfire tragedy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

The unimaginable tragedy in Lahaina, Hawaii was heartbreaking. More than 1,000 people are missing or have been confirmed dead due to the wildfires.The world for these Americans has changed forever. There were plenty of human errors behind this tragedy. Global warming, however, should not be one of them. We should not use it as a scapegoat. Heck, these folks would have blamed the flood that pushed Noah to build his Ark on climate change if they were around then.The whole argument for the scientific validity of global warming may be undeniable, but at one time so was the “science” on the world being flat. And we all know how that turned out. The scientists were right until they “weren’t.” We would not be here today in America had folks not “challenged” the science.I think I was one of the original environmentalists, I say facetiously. As an elementary student, I was selected to lead my class and represent my school for “Rid Litter Day.” Our goal was to stop people from making the eart...

Dear Abby: MIL thinks only of herself in surprise visits

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

Dear Abby: How do I get my mother-in-law to stop dropping by without calling first? My husband and I have been married for 26 years. Both of us have asked her nicely over the years to PLEASE call to make sure it’s a good time, rather than just drop by unannounced. She, however, blatantly ignores our wishes and continues to do it. Even when she discovers it’s a bad time, she blankly looks at us and has this “drop everything, I’m here” attitude as she comes strolling in.Once, when I had just finished preparing a lovely dinner I had worked hard on for a couple of hours, as we were sitting down to eat, she rang our doorbell. We had plenty of food and invited her to stay. Instead of joining us or going home, she went out our back door and sat on our patio — in our view. We went out and again invited her to join us, but she refused to come in or take the hint and leave. So we had to see her the whole time we were eating my lovely dinner.We have told her...

Heat wave prompts Excessive Heat Warning for parts of San Diego County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- An Excessive Heat Warning was issued for parts of San Diego County on Saturday as a heat wave is expected to set in across the region early next week.The warning will be in effect from 10 a.m. Monday until 8 p.m. Tuesday for San Diego's valley and desert communities, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Among the areas impacted are Escondido, El Cajon, San Marcos, Santee, Poway, Borrego-Springs and Ocotillo Wells. How much rain has San Diego had this year to date? According to weather officials, dangerously hot conditions are expected in the warning area during this timeframe. These temperatures are forecast to be about five to 10 degrees above average, with some areas reaching highs up to 15 degrees exceeding normal.For communities impacted by the warning west of the mountains, these highs are expected to range from 95 to 107 degrees. Meanwhile, highs in the desert are forecast to range from 100 to 116 degrees, NWS said.Map of high temperatures on Monday...

These San Diego-area hotels were ranked among top waterfront resorts in U.S.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego is a destination known for its picturesque shoreline views, drawing out thousands of vacationers every year to bask in the sun and take in the beauty of the Pacific Ocean.If you're looking to plan a trip -- or staycation -- in America's Finest City, booking a hotel overlooking the sea is one of the ultimate ways to take in this coastal scenery, with two popular hotels making a USA Today 10Best list of top resorts in the country for a waterfront getaway. San Diego among top Labor Day weekend destinations for SoCal residents: AAA The Hotel del Coronado and the InterContinental San Diego were voted onto a top 10 list of waterfront properties perfect for a relaxing getaway by USA Today readers, with both coming in at No.7 and No. 9 on the list respectively. One other Southern California hotel -- Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica -- made the top 10 USA Today 10Best list, taking the No. 1 spot. The full list can be found below:Shutters on the Beach -- Santa Mo...

Environmental groups recruit people of color into overwhelmingly white conservation world

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

BARABOO, Wis. (AP) — Arianna Barajas never thought of herself as the outdoors type. The daughter of Mexican immigrants who grew up in Chicago’s suburbs, her forays into nature usually amounted to a bike ride to a community park. She was interested in wild animals but had no idea she could make a living working with them until her older brother enrolled in veterinarian school. She took a leap of faith and enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and became a wildlife ecology major. This summer Barajas landed an internship designed for people of color at the International Crane Foundation’s headquarters in Baraboo, Wisconsin, and stepped into a new world.“I always knew growing up I had an interest in wildlife and animals but didn’t know the options I had,” Barajas, 21, said. “I really just have a passion for the outdoors. I can’t just be in an office all day. I need to be outside and doing things I think are valuable.”Environmental groups across th...

Workers exposed to extreme heat have no consistent protection in the US

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Santos Brizuela spent more than two decades laboring outdoors, persisting despite a bout of heatstroke while cutting sugarcane in Mexico and chronic laryngitis from repeated exposure to the hot sun while on various other jobs.But last summer, while on a construction crew in Las Vegas, he reached his breaking point. Exposure to the sun made his head ache immediately. He lost much of his appetite. Now at a maintenance job, Brizuela, 47, is able to take breaks. There are flyers on the walls with best practices for staying healthy — protections he had not been afforded before.“Sometimes as a worker you ask your employer for protection or for health and safety related needs, and they don’t listen or follow,” he said in Spanish through an interpreter.A historic heat wave that began blasting the Southwest and other parts of the country this summer is shining a spotlight on one of the harshest, yet least-addressed effects of U.S. climate change: the rising deaths and injur...

Ten-hut Time Machine? West Point to open time capsule possibly left by cadets in the 1820s

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

A long-forgotten time capsule at West Point recently discovered inside the base of a monument and believed to have been left by cadets in the late 1820s is expected to be pried open Monday.The contents of the small lead box could possibly provide a window into the early, more Spartan days of the storied U.S. Military Academy. It’s not certain exactly when the box was placed in the monument’s marble base or who chose any items inside, though a committee of five cadets that may have been involved with the time capsule included 1829 graduate Robert E. Lee, the future Confederate general.The box will be opened during a livestreamed event.“It’s a mystery, right? A mystery of history,” said Jennifer Voigtschild, the academy’s command historian.The container was discovered in May during restoration to a monument honoring the Revolutionary War hero Thaddeus Kosciuszko. A construction manager made the surprise find and carefully pulled out the hefty box, which is about a cubic fo...

Lotto 649 winning numbers for Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

TORONTO — The winning numbers in Saturday’s Lotto 649 draw for an estimated $5 million: 06, 10, 11, 22, 32 & 43.Bonus: 27The winning number for the guaranteed $1 million: 12849755-01 In the event of any discrepancy between this list and the official winning numbers, the latter shall prevail. The Canadian Press

Women working in Antarctica say they were left to fend for themselves against sexual harassers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — The howling winds and perpetual darkness of the Antarctic winter were easing to a frozen spring when mechanic Liz Monahon at McMurdo Station grabbed a hammer.If those in charge weren’t going to protect her from the man she feared would kill her, she figured, she needed to protect herself. It wasn’t like she could escape. They were all stuck there together on the ice.So she kept the hammer with her at all times, either looped into her Carhartt overalls or tucked into her sports bra.“If he came anywhere near me, I was going to start swinging at him,” Monahon says. “I decided that I was going to survive.”___Monahon, 35, is one of many women who say the isolated environment and macho culture at the United States research center in Antarctica have allowed sexual harassment and assault to flourish.The National Science Foundation, the federal agency that oversees the U.S. Antarctic Program, published a report in 2022 in which 59% of women said they’d experi...

North Korea to allow its citizens abroad to return home, a sign of further easing of pandemic curbs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Sunday it will allow its citizens staying abroad to return home in line with easing pandemic situations worldwide, as the country slowly eases its draconian coronavirus restrictions. In a brief statement carried by state media, the State Emergency Epidemic Prevention Headquarters said those returning to North Korea will be put in quarantine for a week for “proper medical observation.”The statement didn’t elaborate. But analysts predicted the announcement would lead to the return of North Korean students, workers and others who have had to stay abroad, mostly in China and Russia, because of the pandemic. The workers are a key source of foreign income for the country.North Korea banned tourists, jetted out diplomats and severely curtailed border traffic and trade after the pandemic began. The lockdown has further worsened the North’s chronic economic difficulties and food insecurity. Earlier this month, South Korea’s spy age...