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This week’s literary pick: A kids’ book about two seeds from the dinosaur age

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:32 GMT

Merwin and Louise, sibling Sycamore seeds living 100 million years in the Cretaceous period, long to put down roots and grow into big trees. But when a fire forces them to leave their mother tree prematurely, they find themselves catapulted into the unknown, far from home.Brian SelznickThat’s the essence of Caldecott medalist Brian Selznick’s new book “Big Tree,” which he will introduce with a reading at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 17, at the University of St. Thomas O’Shaughnessy Education Center, 2115 Summit Ave., St. Paul, in partnership with St. Paul’s Red Balloon Bookshop.“Big Tree” (Scholastic), began as a planned collaboration between Selznick and producer/director Steven Spielberg for a film project that never got off the ground. But both men agreed it would make a terrific book, and it lives up to that prediction with starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal and The Horn Book. It is enlivened with nearly 300 pages of pictures, including those showing the ...

USPS offices to host 'Superbloom' of passport fairs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:32 GMT

SAN DIEGO — Need to get your passport before your summer vacation? Here is your chance.The United States Postal Service will hold a series of passport fairs at various offices in San Diego, San Bernardino and Imperial Counties.The first string in this "superbloom" of passport fairs will take place on Saturday, May 20, according to USPS.Postal employees at each participating location will accept applications for new U.S. passports during the events on a first come, first serve basis. No registration is required to attend.“Now that COVID-19 concerns have declined and nations are welcoming back travelers, many Southern California residents are eager to get out and see the world,” San Diego Postmaster Justine Valadez said in a news release. “We encourage our customers to plan ahead and get their passport applications in now. The U.S. Passport Agency’s processing time for new passports is longer than usual due to extremely high demand."All of the San Diego County pass...

Rapper 'Boosie' charged with firearm possession after San Diego arrest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:32 GMT

SAN DIEGO (KSWB) -- Louisiana-based rapper Torrence "Boosie" Hatch Jr. pleaded not guilty on Monday to one count of felony firearm possession during his first court appearance after his arrest earlier this month.The rapper was arrested by San Diego police on May 6 after a traffic stop at 4700 Market Street in the Chollas View neighborhood. What prompted the stop was not disclosed by San Diego police, however, officers allegedly recovered two loaded handguns in the vehicle.Hatch, 40, was charged with one count of felony possession of a firearm by a prohibited person during his arraignment Monday morning. If convicted of the charge, he could face up to three years in state prison.A 28-year-old was also arrested by SDPD during the stop, but, he has not been charged in connection to the incident. Post Malone to make Chula Vista stop on 2023 tour He remains out of custody on a $50,000 bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for May 24, with a preliminary hearing set to take place ...

Police seek motive for New Mexico high schooler’s attack that killed 3 and wounded 6

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:32 GMT

FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — The bullets that an 18-year-old high school student fired while meandering through his northwestern New Mexico neighborhood struck targets he apparently picked at random, including cars, homes and passersby. Police responded to the scene within minutes and swiftly killed the gunman, but not before he killed three people and wounded several others.Authorities on Tuesday were trying to determine what led to Monday’s attack in Farmington, a city of about 50,000 that is a bedroom community for the oil and gas industry near the Four Corners, where New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado meet.The attacker, whose name hadn’t been released as of Tuesday morning but who neighbors say was a student at Farmington High School, carried at least three weapons, including an AR-style rifle, according to police. Authorities also hadn’t identified the dead or six wounded, including two police officers who were treated at a hospital. Police were expected to rel...

All Quebec’s bilingual towns resolve to keep right to operate in English and French

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:32 GMT

MONTREAL — All the Quebec municipalities that were at risk of losing their bilingual status under a provincial language law have opted to maintain their right to serve people in both English and French, the province’s language office confirmed.The Office québécois de la langue française says all 48 cities, towns or boroughs that were notified their status could be revoked have taken the necessary action to remain bilingual.“Thanks to this legislative amendment, the recognized municipalities that received notices had to analyze the need to maintain or not their bilingual status and thus to take a position,” the language office said late Monday in a statement.Under Quebec’s new language law, Bill 96, municipalities could lose the right to communicate with residents in English if less than 50 per cent of the population has English as a mother tongue.However, the law allows cities already recognized as bilingual to preserve their status — even if their anglophone...

Biden meets Congress leaders in urgent debt ceiling talks, weighs cutting short foreign trip

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and top congressional leaders opened their second meeting Tuesday in talks over raising the nation’s debt limit as the White House said it was reevaluating parts of Biden’s overseas trip that is scheduled to begin later this week. Biden met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Unlike last week’s meeting, Vice President Kamala Harris was participating in Tuesday’s session. “We’re just getting started,” Biden said in brief remarks to reporters ahead of the meeting, being held in the Oval Office. Biden has remained optimistic on the talks, while McCarthy has said publicly that the negotiators have made little progress ahead of a June 1 deadline, which is when the Treasury Department says the U.S. could begin defaulting on its debts. White House National Security Council ...

Infertility is common in the US, but insurance coverage remains limited

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:32 GMT

Jessica Tincopa may leave the photography business she spent 14 years building for one reason: to find coverage for fertility treatment. After six miscarriages, Tincopa and her husband started saving for in vitro fertilization, which can cost well over $20,000. But the pandemic wiped out their savings, and they can’t find coverage for IVF on their state’s health insurance marketplace. So, the California couple is saving again, and asking politicians to help expand access. “No one should ever have to go through this,” Tincopa said.Infertility, or the inability to get pregnant after a year or more of trying, is a common problem. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that it affects nearly one in five married girls or women between the ages of 15 and 49. Yet coverage of fertility treatments can be hard to find in many corners of health insurance even as it grows briskly with big employers who see it as a must-have benefit to keep workers. It’...

Suspects arrested in Yuma house party shooting that left 2 dead, 5 wounded

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:32 GMT

YUMA, Ariz. (AP) — Two suspects have been arrested in connection with a shooting at a party in southwestern Arizona last weekend that left two men dead and five other people wounded, Yuma police said Tuesday.They said detectives served a search warrant at a home Monday and arrested 18-year-old Jose Lopez on suspicion of first-degree murder and disorderly conduct with a weapon while 19-year-old Aden Arviso was taken into custody on suspicion of false reporting and disorderly conduct with a weapon.It was unclear Tuesday if either suspect had a lawyer yet who could speak on their behalf.Police said there was a party at a private residence Saturday when the shooting occurred around 11 p.m. and more than 30 rounds were fired.Investigators still are trying to determine a motive, but said it doesn’t appear to be a random act and that the people at the party knew each other.Yuma police spokesperson Sgt. Lori Franklin said officers found seven people with gunshot wounds when they arrived at ...

Negotiators finalize details of bill to legalize recreational marijuana in Minnesota

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:32 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — House and Senate negotiators wrapped up work Tuesday on the details of a bill to legalize recreational marijuana for adults in Minnesota, setting the stage for final votes in the closing days of the legislative session.It will still take staffers a day or two to prepare the final bill language, the Democratic chairs of the cannabis conference committee, Rep. Zack Stephenson, of Coon Rapids, and Sen. Lindsey Port, of Duluth, said as they closed out their final meeting. The bill can then go to the House and Senate floors, where final approval is expected.“It has been an incredible journey,” Stephenson said, recalling the more than 30 committee hearings held between the both chambers this year to get the bill into its final shape. “Minnesota will be better because of it.”Conference committees are finishing work on the major budget bills of the 2023 session this week as the adjournment deadline of Monday approaches. House Democratic leaders hope to finish earlier,...

YouTube sends gun videos to 9-year-olds: ‘It’s not the kids. It’s the algorithms,’ study finds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — When researchers at a nonprofit that studies social media wanted to understand the connection between YouTube videos and gun violence, they set up accounts on the platform that mimicked the behavior of typical boys living in the U.S.They simulated two nine-year-olds who both liked video games, especially first-person shooter games. The accounts were identical, except that one clicked on the videos recommended by YouTube, and the other ignored the platform’s suggestions.The account that clicked on YouTube’s suggestions was soon flooded with graphic videos about school shootings, tactical gun training videos and how-to instructions on making firearms fully automatic. One video featured an elementary school-age girl wielding a handgun; another showed a shooter using a .50 caliber gun to fire on a dummy head filled with lifelike blood and brains. Many of the videos violate YouTube’s own policies against violent or gory content.The findings show that d...