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'Ravioli-sized' big skates born at Birch Aquarium

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:57 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- There's a new sight to see at Birch Aquarium -- but look closely, or you might miss them.Several big skate babies were born this week, the aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego announced Wednesday. Though the newborns are the size of raviolis right now, big skates can grow to be eight-feet long -- about the size of a surfboard. As their name implies, big skates are the biggest skates species found in North America. California man comes face-to-face with coyote that entered through doggie door While skates look a lot like stingrays, they're a different species. Skates don't have a stinging barb and don't give live birth.The newborns will live in the nursery habitat in the Hall of Fishes and "behind-the scenes," the aquarium said. When they get bigger, they'll be moved around the aquarium.

Ex-USC gynecologist charged with sexually assaulting students dies before going to trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:57 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The former University of Southern California campus gynecologist at the center of more than $1 billion worth of university payouts stemming from sexual abuse allegations by hundreds of women was found dead inside his home Wednesday, his lawyer said.George Tyndall, 76, was awaiting trial on more than two dozen criminal counts of sexual misconduct between 2009 and 2016 at the university’s student health center. He pleaded not guilty in 2019 and was free on bond ahead of a trial that had not yet been scheduled. His lawyer, Leonard Levine, confirmed his death Thursday.A close friend went to Tyndall’s home in Los Angeles on Wednesday after he had not answered her phone calls, Levine said. She found him dead in his bed.Levine said there is “no evidence of foul play or suicide.”Levine said Tyndall was due back in court later this month to set a date for his trial. His client had denied any wrongdoing and wanted to present his case before a jury.“He’s always maintained hi...

‘Prophet of Doom’ who wounded 10 in New York City subway shooting is sentenced to life in prison

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who sprayed a New York City subway car with bullets during rush hour, wounding 10 people and sparking a citywide manhunt, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison after several of his victims tearfully and angrily recounted their ongoing trauma.Frank James, 64, pleaded guilty earlier this year to terrorism charges in the April 12, 2022, mass shooting aboard a Manhattan-bound train. He received a life sentence on 10 counts and 10 years for an 11th count for discharging a firearm during an act of violence.Three of his victims spoke in court of the physical and emotional pain they continue to experience more than a year after the bloody attack in a packed subway car.“I have not been able to make sense of it,” said a young man identified as B.K. At times his voice cracked as he spoke and his eyes turned glassy from tears.Another victim, a 51-year-old man identified as L.C., told the court he had post traumatic stress disorder and thoughts of suicide. L.C., who said...

Outgoing Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson wins Winnipeg seat in election

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:57 GMT

WINNIPEG — Outgoing Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson has hung on to her legislature seat for the Progressive Conservatives. Unofficial results from Elections Manitoba following Tuesday’s provincial election show she is the successful candidate in Winnipeg’s Tuxedo riding.Stefanson nudged out NDP candidate Larissa Ashdown by 263 votesStefanson announced she was stepping down as leader of the Tories after Wab Kinew’s New Democrats won a majority government.The outgoing premier met briefly with Kinew Thursday morning one-on-one to discuss the transition of power. A date for when the New Democrats take office has yet to be set.Stefanson has not said whether she plans to continue as a legislature member. The Tories say she will speak about her next steps in the coming days. On election night, Stefanson thanked the residents of Tuxedo where she has served for the past 23 years. “I have served in Opposition in the past so I understand the fundamental role that Opp...

Nova Scotia to address housing shortage by boosting tax for short-term rentals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:57 GMT

HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia government’s plan to increase the annual registration tax for short-term rentals, such as apartments and Airbnbs, is being panned by the province’s opposition parties as inconsequential.Housing Minister John Lohr said following a cabinet meeting Thursday the government’s goal by raising taxes is to encourage people to convert their short-term rentals into long-term ones, but he admitted the plan likely won’t do much to address the housing shortage.“We recognize that it won’t be many, but I will say every unit counts,” said Lohr, about the number of additional long-term rentals the higher taxes would bring. “There will certainly be some.”The minister said legislative amendments would be introduced during the legislature’s fall sitting, which begins Oct. 12, to be followed by regulations that will take effect in April.Under the changes, Lohr said, the annual tax for owners who rent a room in a home will be $10, while the tax to list an entir...

Pennsylvania chocolate factory fined for failing to evacuate before fatal natural gas explosion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:57 GMT

WEST READING, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania chocolate factory was fined more than $44,000 by the federal workplace safety agency on Thursday for failing to evacuate before a natural gas explosion that killed seven people.R.M. Palmer Co. did not heed warnings from employees about a natural gas leak, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which issued multiple citations to the company.“Seven workers will never return home because the R.M. Palmer Co. did not evacuate the facility after being told of a suspected gas leak,” OSHA Area Director Kevin T. Chambers, of the agency’s Harrisburg office, said in a written statement. “The company could have prevented this horrific tragedy by following required safety procedures.” Palmer denied it violated any workplace safety standards and said it would contest the OSHA citations, which the company said are “legally and factually unsupported.”The powerful natural gas explosion leveled one building and heavily damaged anot...

US regulators seek to compel Elon Musk to testify in their investigation of his Twitter acquisition

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:57 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday it is seeking a court order that would compel Elon Musk to testify as part of an investigation into his purchase of Twitter, now called X.The SEC said in a filing in a San Francisco federal court that Musk failed to appear for testimony on Sept. 15 despite an investigative subpoena served by the SEC and having raised no objections at the time it was served.But “two days before his scheduled testimony, Musk abruptly notified the SEC staff that he would not appear,” said the agency’s filing. “Musk attempted to justify his refusal to comply with the subpoena by raising, for the first time, several spurious objections, including an objection to San Francisco as an appropriate testimony location.”X, which is based in San Francisco, didn’t immediately return a request for comment.The SEC said it has been conducting a fact-finding investigation involving the period before Musk’s takeover last year when Twitter was st...

Black voting power gets boost in Alabama as new US House districts chosen by federal judges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:57 GMT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Federal judges on Thursday selected new congressional lines for Alabama to give the Deep South state a second district where Black voters comprise a substantial portion of the electorate. The judges stepped in to pick a new congressional map after ruling that one drawn by Alabama illegally diluted the voting power of Black residents, and that Republican lawmakers failed to fix the Voting Rights Act violation when they adopted new lines this summer. It sets the stage for potentially flipping one U.S. House of Representatives seat from Republican to Democratic control and for the state to have second Black Congressional representative for the first time.“It’s a historic day for Alabama. It will be the first time in which Black voters will have an opportunity to elect candidates of their choice in two congressional districts,” said Deuel Ross, an attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund who represented plaintiffs in the case.Black voters in 2021 filed a lawsui...

Reprieve for New Orleans as salt water creeping up the Mississippi River slows its march inland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:57 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Salt water inching up the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico is progressing more slowly than projected, authorities said Thursday, meaning water systems in the greater New Orleans area that draw drinking water from the river have additional weeks to prepare.For some small systems downriver, the projected arrival of salt water was pushed back to later this month. For New Orleans and neighboring Jefferson Parish the threat to water system intakes was pushed back from late October to late November. Unexpected October or November rains could further delay and diminish the threat, said Col. Cullen Jones, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ New Orleans District.Typically, the Mississippi’s flow is sufficient to prevent salt water from moving far upstream. But for the second year in a ro w, hot and dry weather has lowered the river, allowing a denser, heavier layer of salt water from the Gulf to push inland. State, local and federal officials disc...

City, team, province announce finalized deal for new $800M arena for Calgary Flames

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:57 GMT

CALGARY — The deal is sealed — the NHL’s Calgary Flames are getting a new $800-million arena.Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek says the preliminary deal announced in April for a new $1.2 billion events centre and entertainment district near the city’s downtown has been finalized.The deal includes the new home for the Flames hockey team, with an opening date expected around 2027, and officials say the four-way cost sharing arrangement has not changed.The Alberta government is committing a maximum $330 million for area infrastructure and to cover half the cost of a new community rink that would be attached to the Flames arena.The City of Calgary is to put in $537 million, and the group that owns the Flames is to pay an initial $40 million then $17 million a year over the course of a 35-year lease.The rink is to be built near the team’s current Saddledome rink, which has been its home for four decades.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 5, 2023The Canadian Press