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10 killed in Ukrainian strikes on border regions, Russian officials say

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

Ukraine launched a series of drone and missile attacks on Russia over the past 24 hours, killing at least 10 people, Russian officials said on Saturday. The Russian emergency ministry said one child was among those killed in Belgorod, a city less than 50 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Another 45 people, including four children, were injured, according to the ministry. On Saturday morning, the Russian defense ministry said that it had shot down 32 Ukrainian drones over border areas as well as the regions of Oryol and Moscow further north. The Ukrainian strikes come after large-scale Russian air attacks on Friday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that the death toll from Friday’s airstrikes had risen to 39. Russian local officials had said earlier on Saturday that Ukrainian strikes on border regions had killed one man and two children in Belgorod and another child in the Bryansk region. “The Ukrainian Armed Forces shelled the center of Belgor...

Police shoot, kill former New Bedford deputy fire chief in bar interaction

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

The former New Bedford deputy fire chief was shot and killed by police outside a Fair Haven bar in an interaction that also left one officer wounded by a gunshot.Fairhaven Police responded at around 4:30 p.m. to the Bayside Lounge on Sconticut Neck Road Friday after receiving a call that a drunk patron of the bar was physically fighting someone who was trying to prevent him from driving. When police arrived, that man had a gun on him, according to the Bristol District Attorney’s office.“Unfortunately the individual who was reported to be intoxicated fired his weapon, fire was returned as a result of that and he was killed,” Bristol DA Thomas Quinn III summarized during a press conference near the scene of the incident.Police identified the man as Paul Coderre, 55, of Dartmouth. Quinn confirmed to the media that Coderre was the former interim deputy New Bedford Fire Chief.Quinn said that Coderre bad been drinking for hours in the Lounge with friends when “there was an altercation ins...

Venice is limiting tourist groups to 25 people starting in June to protect the popular lagoon city

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

MILAN (AP) — The Italian city of Venice announced new limits Saturday on the size of tourist groups, the latest move to reduce the pressure of mass tourism on the famed canal city.Starting in June, groups will be limited to 25 people, or roughly half the capacity of a tourist bus, and the use of loudspeakers, “which can generate confusion and disturbances,” will be banned, the city said in a statement.The city official charged with security, Elisabetta Pesce, said the policies were aimed at improving the movement of groups through Venice’s historic center as well as the heavily visited islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello.The city previously announced plans to test a new day-tripper fee this year. The 5 euros ($5.45) per person fee will be applied on 29 peak days between April and mid-July, including most weekends. It is intended to regulate crowds, encourage longer visits and improve the quality of life for Venice residents. The U.N. cultural agency cited tourism’s impact o...

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith set to launch sweeping health-delivery changes in 2024

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

EDMONTON — Premier Danielle Smith is set to take scalpel and bone saw to Alberta’s $17-billion health-delivery system in 2024, while simultaneously scrambling to keep and find more family doctors.One goal can’t wait on the other, Smith said in a recent year-end interview.“We won’t be able to solve the front-line problems without doing a massive reorganization,” said Smith.“Our nurses are getting burnt out after two years and leaving our system. Paramedics last about five years on average. Doctors have reduced their private practice andnot enough are going into primary care.“That’s a management problem … decisions that either don’t get made or get pushed off, or bad decisions get made. And that has a huge impact on morale.”Smith’s United Conservative Party government is expected in the spring sitting to begin passing laws to make good on her plan to dismantle Alberta Health Services, the centralized body that oversees ...

Expert says number of police shootings in Canada ‘spectacularly unrelenting’

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

The family of a woman shot by an officer in Edmonton during a wellness check says her death was unnecessary, as the number of police shootings across Canada show little sign of relenting over the past four years. “I see my daughter’s death as being a result of a complete mishandling of the tools available to law enforcement in the application of dealing with mental health issues,” the family of the woman, who has not been publicly identified, says in a statement from their lawyer, Tom Engel.Edmonton police have said officers were called for a welfare check earlier this month. There were risks the woman may harm herself, so police say officers entered the apartment, there was a confrontation and the woman was shot. Family says that had the police approach been gradual and gentle, she would have understood the nature of the visit and would still be alive. A tally compiled by The Canadian Press found police shot at 85 people in Canada between Jan. 1 and...

5 discontinued foods we mourned in 2023

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – It’ll be easier to stick to your New Year’s resolutions now that some of your favorite snacks and junk foods have been discontinued.Americans were treated to a bevy of culinary creations in 2023 (e.g., BORGs, Grimace Shakes, “girl dinners,” etc.). But for every exciting or perplexing innovation, another longtime foodstuff seemed to disappear due to low sales, lack of interest or supply-chain issues.In some cases, fans urged their favorite brands to bring the snacks back — and a few campaigns were actually successful. In most cases, however, these discontinued products remain as extinct as New Coke.Here’s a short list of the foods we mourned in 2023, but haven’t yet forgotten:(Getty Images)Trader Joe’s Minty MallowsTrader Joes confirmed in December 2023 that Minty Mallows — a chocolate-covered peppermint marshmallow product usually found during the holidays — are no longer offered in stores.A representative for Trader Joe’s did not specify why Minty Mallows were discontin...

Joe Soucheray: Are we headed for another ‘Year Without Winter’? It’s too soon to tell

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

Mud.That was the principal difference between this winter and the winter of 1877-78.Mud. It made Christmas travel miserable and miserably slow. Wagon wheels got clogged. Horses became exhausted. Sleigh delays must have rivaled the inconvenience of the modern airport. Finery took a beating in a slip or splash, mixed as the mud was with, well, mixed as it was.Veteran TV meteorologist John (Doppler) Dooley sent me the fascinating facts of “The Year Without Winter: 1877-78.” Facts tend to be important. We’ve been sold the hysterically childish notion that a “climate crisis” is responsible for the look out your window. There is no such thing as a climate crisis except for the urgency with which green theologians would have us return to the days of mud. The Yellowstone caldera blowing up would result in a climate crisis, but that wouldn’t be man-made now, would it?According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the winter of 1877-78 was the warmest on record for the Twin...

New ice fishing law aims to keep Minnesota lakes cleaner

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

Robert Gorecki said he’s seen just about everything imaginable left behind on a frozen Minnesota lake after ice anglers head back to shore: cigarette butts, cans and bottles, bags of human waste.Garbage and other debris left behind on the ice after someone moved their ice fishing shelter. A new Minnesota law passed in the 2023 session now allows conservation officers to issue citations to anyone who has left garbage or waste on the ice. (Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources)“Once we found an entire couch someone left out there. … And the white plastic bags from people’s porta-potties are pretty bad,” said Gorecki, a lieutenant colonel in the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ enforcement bureau. “Probably the worst of all is when someone with a wheelhouse (an ice fishing camper on wheels) pulls the plug on their sewage holding tanks and drains it on the ice as they drive away. … There seem to be a few guys out there who will spend $50,000 on ...

Working Strategies: 75 Resolutions for the New Year

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

Amy LindgrenDo people still make New Years’ resolutions? I do, although I’ve noticed  a change over the past few years. Instead of a longer list of self-challenges, I’ve gone to shorter, more amorphous goals. You know — things like, “Be kinder” and “Stress less.”Well, that’s kind of embarrassing. Did the pandemic shift me from being a go-getter into someone just trying to get through the day? Not that getting through isn’t a worthy goal. Sometimes it’s nearly more than we can manage. But this year I’m determined to break out of the sleep-walk I’ve been in, and push for something a bit more productive in my goal-setting.If you want to join me, I’ve adapted one of my long-ago lists to provide 25 options in each of three categories: job search, career development and personal management. The 75 resolutions range from small adjustments to major projects; by choosing five in each category, you’ll have a decent set of challenging but achievable goals for 2024.Job Search Resolutions1...

Woman dead after late-night shooting in South L.A.

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

A woman was shot and killed in South Los Angeles on Friday night, authorities said. Gunfire erupted on 107th Street between Western and Normandie Avenues just before midnight, according to preliminary information.  California man injured by rogue wave shares harrowing tale The unidentified female victim was rushed to a nearby hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. Footage from the scene shows multiple shell casings littering the street as authorities began their investigation in the pouring rain. (OnSceneTV)Footage from the scene shows multiple shell casings littering the street as authorities began their investigation in the pouring rain. (OnSceneTV)Footage from the scene shows multiple shell casings littering the street as authorities began their investigation in the pouring rain. (OnSceneTV)Footage from the scene shows multiple shell casings littering the street as authorities began their investigation in the pouring rain. No information on a motive or sus...