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5-year-old girl dies after being struck by starting gate at harness race

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:56 GMT

EFFINGHAM, Ill. (AP) — A 5-year-old southern Illinois girl has died after a starting gate being hauled by a car prior to a harness race struck her while she was sitting in the grandstand at a county fair, authorities said.Harper Finn, of Altamont, died Wednesday evening at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, the St. Louis city medical examiner's office said.She was hurt Sunday afternoon at the Effingham County Fair. While attending the race, the girl was struck by the folding arm of the starting gate attached to a car that failed to close when it extended into the grandstand, the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office said. Man in custody after shooting leads to hours-long SWAT standoff on North Side She was rushed to a local hospital and later airlifted to the St. Louis hospital.

As heat wave bears down, Greek zoo serves frozen meals to animals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:56 GMT

SPATA, Greece (AP) — At first sight, Tiembe studies his frozen breakfast with hesitation: Chunks of red meat and bone packed in a foot-long block of ice.The 15-year-old Angolan lion eventually licks the ice before gnawing pieces of meat-free.Animals at the Attica Zoological Park outside the Greek capital were being fed frozen meals Friday as temperatures around the country reached 40 C (107.5 F) and were set to rise further, in the fourth heat wave in less than a month.Ring-tailed lemurs lick a fruit popsicle, at the Attica Zoological Park in Spata suburb, eastern Athens, Friday, Aug. 4, 2023. A large number of animals being fed frozen meals at the Attica Zoological Park outside the Greek capital Friday, as temperatures around the country touched 40C (104 degrees Fahrenheit) and were set to rise further, in the fourth heat wave in less than a month. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)Tiembe, a 15-year-old Angolan lion, licks his frozen breakfast, chunks of red meat and bone pac...

Andrew Tate released from house arrest while he awaits human trafficking and rape trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:56 GMT

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Andrew Tate, the divisive internet influencer who is charged in Romania with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, won an appeal on Friday to be released from house arrest, his spokesperson said.Tate won't be able to leave the country. He also will not be allowed to be "in close proximity with any of the other defendants, any of the witnesses or any of the alleged victims and their immediate family,” his spokesperson, Mateea Petrescu, said in a statement.“This positive outcome gives us confidence that more favorable developments are on the horizon," Petrescu said.The decision at the Bucharest Court of Appeal comes after prosecutors formally indicted the 36-year-old Tate in June along with his brother, Tristan, and two Romanian women in the same case. All four were arrested in late December near Bucharest and have denied the allegations against them.The court’s decision says all four defendants will be subje...

More Americans say they can never retire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:56 GMT

(The Hill) -- A growing share of working Americans don’t think they will ever retire, recent surveys suggest. Retirement is a time-honored life stage and a near-universal expectation in working America. Yet, a comfortable retirement requires savings, and many workers fear they don’t have enough. In a July poll conducted jointly by Axios and Ipsos, 29 percent of workers under 55 answered a retirement query with, “I don’t think I will ever retire.” Asked why not, three-quarters of the never-retire group said they could not afford to stop working. A smaller share said they didn’t want to. “How to make the dollars and cents of retirement work is a constant balancing act for those who are retired and Americans hoping to reach that milestone one day,” said Clifford Young, president of Ipsos Public Affairs. Another survey, from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), found that one-third of workers now expect to retire at 70 or later, or never. A third repo...

Second wildfire in Bastrop County 100% contained

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:56 GMT

BASTROP COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) -- The Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management responded to a wildland fire located near Hellinger Road. The fire, named the Mesquite Field Fire, is separate from the 100-acre Powder Keg Pine Fire that broke out Tuesday. Powder Keg Pine Fire in Bastrop estimated at 117 acres Officials said the Mesquite Field Fire burned roughly 38 acres and is now 100% contained, as of shortly after 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The Mesquite Field Fire has burned about 37 acres in Bastrop County and is 80% contained, according to officials. (KXAN photo/Jake Sykes)While this fire didn't cover as much ground as Tuesday's Powder Keg Pine Fire, it still gave people quite the scare Wednesday. "My neighbor called and said there was a fire out here," said Paul Todd, whose farmland is close to where the fire started. "So I came out here as quick as I could. My thought was to get out here and make sure everything was okay, and everybody's house, whatever I could do to help my neigh...

What happens if you don't wash your car?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:56 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Amid Central Texas' ongoing drought and heat wave, any reprieve from rainstorms is far and few between. That also means your vehicle hasn't received a free rinse down courtesy Mother Nature.But how bad is it if you seldom wash your car -- or, even more extreme, never take it to the car wash or clean it yourself?What happens if you never wash your vehicle?According to online auto resource Carwash Country, any dirt or grim left on your vehicle is abrasive and can deteriorate the car's clear coat over time. Once that clear coat has worn away, that can lead to rusting, pitting, fading and other impacts to the paint layer and sheet metal of the vehicle.While older cars are already vulnerable to all these vehicles woes, not washing your vehicle can speed up the process and cause damages years before they might've happened naturally. What are some weird car issues technicians are seeing during the Texas heat spell? Going through a car wash helps remove dirt and grim on t...

5 things to know this Friday, August 4

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:56 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Happy Friday! Per Meteorologist Jill Szwed, we can expect some active weather this afternoon with the potential for strong to severe storms. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! A 10-year-old girl reported missing out of the city of Troy has been located. Police said Elizabeth Rosa was located in New York City on Thursday. Also, Saratoga Springs City Council passed an ordinance that bans homeless shelters from being located near schools. Advocates say it sends the wrong message because it equates homeless people to pedophiles. These stories, and more, are covered in your five things to know this Friday morning. 1. Police locate missing 10-year-old girl from TroyA 10-year-old girl reported missing out of the city of Troy has been located. Police said Elizabeth Rosa was located in New York City on Thursday.2. Saratoga passes 1,000 foot buffer for homeless shelterSaratoga Springs City Council passed an ordinan...

Avalanche Journal: Way-too-early NHL Central Division power rankings for 2023-24

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:56 GMT

There will be good teams in the NHL’s Eastern Conference that don’t make the playoffs in 2023-24, and it stands to reason that at least one not-so-good team in the Western Conference will qualify for the postseason.Even after a Stanley Cup champion was crowned out of the Pacific, the current disparity between the East and West has been affirmed this offseason. And there might not be a worse division than the Central as a new NHL calendar nears.That’s good news for the Avalanche, a consensus Cup contender recently named the best team in the league by Sportsnet.How exactly does the Central project at this point? Here is our way-too-early power ranking.8. Arizona CoyotesThe ‘Yotes have a handful of exciting young talents and could very well finish above Chicago in the division standings, but they’ll still be the Central’s biggest losers. Playing at a college rink in Tempe while a future in Arizona appears uncertain at best, times are hard right now. ...

Letters: Colorado Buffs moving back to Big 12 — Realign college conferences to make geographical sense

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:56 GMT

Realign college conferences to make geographical senseRe:  “Buffs return to different Big 12 than they left behind in 2011,” July 28 sports analysisBig 12, Big 10, Pac-12, SEC. Once upon a time, back when traveling by airplanes was new, college football conferences made geographic sense. But now, conference maps resemble a drunken game of cat’s cradle.Competitors are spread across the country as universities jockey to optimize television receipts. Bleary-eyed athletes cross time zones to satisfy the marketplace. With a nod to competitive status, let’s organize the leagues to minimize inter-city distances, thereby reducing travel costs and, more importantly, reducing the amount of carbon emitted in a sports season. In the new age of global warming, is this too much to ask of a university athletic department?DIA to Seattle, about 1,024 miles; DIA to Austin, 775 miles; DIA to Lincoln, 423 miles … you get the idea. A new algorithm is needed for a new era. I’ll bet “AI”...

‘First Descendant’ crossplay beta delayed until September but will be open to all

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:56 GMT

Nexon announced that it’s delaying the crossplay beta for its anticipated free-to-play looter shooter “The First Descendant,” but the news isn’t all bad for fans.When it comes out Sept. 19 to 25, the crossplay beta will be open to all players on PC and PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Producer Beomjun Lee and director Minseok Joo said the during development, the team made so many improvements and wanted to polish new aspects of it that they wanted to create a more complete version for players to experience.In the process, they shifted from a closed beta to an open one in order to get more people in the game. They pointed to a framerate performance and the option for performance or quality modes on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series.They took player feedback into account from the first beta on Steam and revamped how the grappling hook worked and added a few parkour movements. Now, players can use momentum and swing around objects with the traversal g...