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Denver among cities cleaning up homeless encampments. Advocates say it's not an answer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:25 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Tossing tent poles, blankets and a duffel bag into a shopping cart and three wagons, Will Taylor spent a summer morning helping friends tear down what had been their home and that of about a dozen others. It wasn't the first time and wouldn't be the last.Contractors from the city of Portland had arrived to break down the stretch of tents and tarps on a side street behind a busy intersection. People had an hour to vacate the encampment, one of more than a dozen cleared that July day, according to city data.Whatever they couldn't take with them was placed in clear plastic bags, tagged with the date and location of the removal and sent to an 11,000-square-foot (1,020 square meter) warehouse storing thousands like them.“It can get hard,” said Taylor, 32, who has been swept at least three times in the four years he's been homeless. "It is what it is. … I just let it go.”A woman gathers possessions to take before a homeless encampment was cleaned up in San Francisco,...

Jawlene, the resilient alligator, strives for recovery at Gatorland Orlando

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:25 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (WSVN) — Meet Jawlene, the unstoppable alligator making waves at Gatorland Orlando. Rescued mid-September, this Great American alligator is proving her resilience despite missing her upper jaw.Gatorland’s global ambassador for conservation, Savannah Boan, shared insights into Jawlene’s journey to recovery. “We first started working with her, obviously stress is a big hazard for all reptiles,” she said. Rescued by a gator trapper, Jawlene’s rehabilitation began with careful efforts to feed her. Boan expressed satisfaction with Jawlene’s positive food response, indicating her determination to eat.“So we first started trying to feed her. She took the food down very well. We didn’t know how she ate,” Boan explained.Currently isolated from other gators, Jawlene has made progress in her weight and eating habits. Boan stated that draining the pool now excites Jawlene, knowing there’s food involved.Despite global sugg...

Death investigation unfolding in Miami Springs after reports of throat slashing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:25 GMT

A death investigation is underway in Miami Springs after reports of a throat slashing incident The incident allegedly unfolded at Northwest 28th Street and Northwest 37th Avenue where a man was found dead inside his car.According to sources, the incident originated in Miami Springs and has now escalated into a homicide investigation led by the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD). Homicide detectives are on the scene as the investigation unfolds.Details are limited at this time, but the MDPD is actively working on gathering more information.Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.

Bill O’Brien: Blame me for Patriots’ offensive failures

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:25 GMT

Mac Jones may be the face of the Patriots’ ongoing offensive woes, but Bill O’Brien is the brains.For that, O’Brien says blame him.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Two Patriots legends named Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalists for 2024 Class New England Patriots | Patriots-Giants film review: Bill Belichick is out of options on offense New England Patriots | Mac Jones currently focused on ‘process’ of becoming Patriots starting QB New England Patriots | Patriots extra points: Devin McCourty says he would want new quarterback for Patriots defense New England Patriots | Bill Belichick won’t rule out Patriots signing QB, kicker help “Things haven’t gone great for (Jones) this year. I don’t think that he’s the No. 1 guy to blame. If you want to blame anyone, blame me,” O’Brien said Tuesday during a video conference. “I’m the one who designs it, and it...

Celtics’ Al Horford reacts to blocking shot into son Ean’s lap during win over Hawks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:25 GMT

When Al Horford blocks a shot into the crowd, occasionally the Celtics big man will follow it in case he can save it. But he certainly wasn’t expecting what happened when he made a block late in Sunday’s win over the Hawks.With less than three minutes left in the fourth quarter, Horford swatted Trae Young’s layup attempt with his left hand into the first row of the stands under the basket. The ball landed, by a wild chance, in his son Ean’s lap.“When I looked, I saw that it was him,” Horford said on Tuesday.Al Horford on his blocked shot that went to his son in the first row during Sunday’s win: “It was a cool moment. He was a little surprised, needless to say, but that was a cool moment.” pic.twitter.com/v1jwwPlzBj— Steve Hewitt (@steve_hewitt) November 28, 2023Horford immediately rushed over to make sure his son was OK before returning to the court. For a moment, he went into dad mode.“It kind of takes you off everything,” Horford said. “It definitely shifts your mind. You l...

Rosalynn Carter honored by family, friends, first ladies and presidents — including husband Jimmy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:25 GMT

By BILL BARROW (Associated Press)ATLANTA (AP) — Rosalynn Carter was being memorialized Tuesday with classical music and beloved hymns, some of her favorite Biblical passages, and a rare gathering of all living U.S. first ladies and multiple presidents, including her 99-year-old husband Jimmy Carter in the front row.The tribute service at Glenn Memorial Church in Atlanta marked the second day of a three-day schedule of public events celebrating the former first lady and global humanitarian who died Nov. 19 at home in Plains, Georgia, at the age of 96. Tributes began Monday in the Carters’ native Sumter County and continued in Atlanta.The former president, who is 10 months into home hospice care and hadn’t been seen in public since September, stayed Monday night at The Carter Center, CEO Paige Alexander said, steps from where the former first lady lay in repose. “He never wants to be very far from her,” she said. “He had a good night. He’s res...

Ontario court upholds mandatory math test for new teachers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:25 GMT

Ontario’s top court has upheld the validity of a mandatory math test for new teachers.The Appeal Court decision released Tuesday quashes a lower court ruling that found the test was unconstitutional because it had a disproportionate impact on racialized teachers, infringing on equality provisions in the charter.The Ontario government fought that ruling and the Appeal Court sided with the province, saying that decision was based on preliminary and incomplete data.Education Minister Stephen Lecce says he is pleased with the decision and wants to assure parents that the people educating students have fundamental math skills. Related: New Ontario teachers will have to score at least 70% on math tests Premier Doug Ford’s government introduced the test as part of an effort – including a new curriculum – to improve students’ scores on standardized math tests.Teachers’ unions objected to the test being applied broadly to all teachers, que...

Pope cancels trip to Dubai for UN climate conference on doctors’ orders after getting the flu

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:25 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis canceled his trip to Dubai for the U.N. climate conference on doctors’ orders Tuesday, even though he is recovering from the flu and lung inflammation, the Vatican said.The announcement marked the second time the pope’s frail health had forced the cancellation of a foreign trip: He had to postpone a planned trip to Congo and South Sudan in 2022 because of knee inflammation, though he was able to make the trip earlier this year.Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Francis was improving from the flu and inflammation of his respiratory tract that forced him to cancel his audiences Saturday. But “the doctors have asked the pope not to make the trip planned for the coming days to Dubai.“Pope Francis accepted the doctors’ request with great regret and the trip is therefore canceled,” he added. Francis, who turns 87 next month, had part of one lung removed as a young man.The Associated Press

Why it took 17 days for rescuers in India to get to 41 workers trapped in a mountain tunnel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:25 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — The rescue mission was expected to last only a few days. Instead, it took 17 days to reach 41 construction workers who were trapped when a landslide collapsed a mountain tunnel in northern India earlier this month. The excruciating wait finally ended at nightfall on Tuesday, as temperatures dropped near the accident site in the mountainous state of Uttarakhand. Everyone was pulled out alive. But beyond the jubilation and relief, questions remain as to why what became one of the most significant and complicated rescue operations in India’s recent history — aided by international tunneling experts and spearheaded by multiple rescue agencies — took so long. HOW THE RESCUE UNFOLDEDNews of the trapped workers spread fast after a Nov. 12 early morning landslide caused a portion of the 4.5-kilometer (2.8-mile) Silkyara Tunnel they were building near the town of Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand state to collapse about 200 meters (650 feet) from the entrance. No one was serio...

Four miners die in Poland when pipeline filled with water ruptures deep below ground

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:25 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Four miners died after a pipeline filled with water burst in a coal mine deep below ground in southern Poland, Polish media reported on Tuesday.The all-news station TVN24 reported that the fatal accident occurred in the Sobieski mine in Jaworzno, a town in the coal-mining region of Silesia, not far from Poland’s borders with Slovakia and the Czech Republic.TVN24 quoted a spokesman for the mining authority, Piotr Strzoda, as saying the uncontrolled pipeline rupture happened at a depth of 600 meters (1,970 feet) underground. A brigade of six miners were working on flushing the pipeline at the time.He said that four people were killed, one was injured and one was not hurt. The Associated Press