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What you need to know about wildfires burning across Canada

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

Quebecers are returning home as the province goes on the offensive against a record wildfire season, but gusty winds and hot temperatures are fuelling fires in the West.Here’s a look at developments Monday.Worst wildfire season of the 21st century: BlairEmergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair says 431 wildfires are burning across Canada, and more than 200 are out of control.More than 47,000 square kilometres have burned so far this year.Blair says it marks Canada’s worst wildfire season of the 21st century.About 5,000 firefighting personnel are deployed, and hundreds more from Chile, Costa Rica, Spain and Portugal are to arrive in the coming days.Visas extended for people affected by wildfiresFederal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser says some work and student visas will get extensions if people have been affected by wildfires.Fraser says Ottawa wants to make sure these disasters don’t displace people who are on a specific kind of work or study permit.Ottawa also...

Tens of thousands of dead fish wash up on a Texas beach due to low oxygen levels

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

QUINTANA, Texas (AP) — Tens of thousands of dead fish washed up on the Texas Gulf Coast over the weekend, covering the shoreline with rotting carcasses and leading local officials to warn visitors to keep away.Waves from the Gulf of Mexico pushed in dead fish “by the thousands” Friday in Brazoria County, which is over 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Houston, Quintana Beach County Park officials said.Low levels of dissolved oxygen in the water made it difficult for the fish to breathe, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials said. The phenomenon — known as a “fish kill” — is common as temperatures rise in the summer, the state department said.While no one has connected this specific incident to climate change, researchers have said such kills may become more prevalent as temperatures warm and oxygen levels in lakes across the United States and Europe drop.Dissolved oxygen levels increase with photosynthesis, the process by which plants transform sunlight, water and carbon dio...

Relatives fight for custody of 4 kids who survived plane crash and weeks in Amazon jungle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A custody battle has broken out among relatives of four Indigenous children who survived a plane crash and 40 harrowing days alone in the Amazon rainforest in an extraordinary showing of youthful resilience that captivated people around the world. The siblings, ranging in age from 1 to 13, remained hospitalized Monday and were expected to stay there for several more days, a period that Colombia’s child protection agency is using to interview family members to determine who should care for them after their mother died in the May 1 crash.Astrid Cáceres, head of the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, said in an interview with BLU radio that a caseworker was assigned to the children at the request of their maternal grandparents, who are vying for custody with the father of the two youngest.“We are going to talk, investigate, learn a little about the situation,” Cáceres said, adding that the agency has not ruled out that they and their mother may have ex...

Vancouver family who lost son to fentanyl donates $20 million to new treatment model

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

VANCOUVER — Jill Diamond says when her brother Steven was struggling with substance addiction the system meant to support him was messy and filled with delays, disappointments and waitlists.After years during which prolonged periods of sobriety were punctuated with the pain of addiction, she says her athletic, loving and helpful brother was put on a waitlist to see an addiction psychiatrist. He died in 2016 from a fentanyl overdose less than a week before the appointment.“Some people say the system is simply broken. But the truth is, the system we need doesn’t even exist,” she said.The Diamond family, well known for their philanthropy around the province, is donating $20 million towards a new model for addictions treatment based out of Vancouver’s St. Paul’s Hospital.Called Road to Recovery, the 95-bed program aims to streamline the process for someone working their way through withdrawal management, inpatient recovery-focused care, transitional housing...

2 active-duty Marines plead guilty to Capitol riot charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

Two men who were active-duty members of the Marines Corps when they stormed the U.S. Capitol pleaded guilty on Monday to riot-related criminal charges.Joshua Abate and Dodge Dale Hellonen are scheduled to be sentenced in September by U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes. Both pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia.Many Capitol rioters are military veterans, but only a few were actively serving in the armed forces when they joined a mob’s attack on Jan. 6, 2021.A third active-duty Marine, Micah Coomer, also was charged with Abate and Hellonen. Coomer pleaded guilty to the same misdemeanor charge in May and is scheduled to be sentenced by Reyes on Aug. 30.All three men face a maximum sentence of six months of imprisonment.As of May 19, the Marines were still in the service. No additional information was available Monday.David Dischley, an...

15-year-old boy from Oak Forest area found safe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

OAK FOREST, Ill. — The Oak Forest Police Department said the 15-year-old boy they were looking for, David Bellinger, has been found safe.

Former Marine speaks out after being charged with killing NYC man

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

NEW YORK (WPIX) -- Daniel Penny, 24, the man accused in the subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely, has spoken out in four short, pre-taped videos his attorneys released to Nexstar's WPIX.The former Marine allegedly placed Neely in a chokehold as he reportedly experienced a mental health episode. A freelance journalist who recorded Neely struggling to free himself, then lapsing into unconsciousness, said he had been shouting at passengers and begging for money aboard the train but had not gotten physical with anyone.Attorneys for Neely’s family have previously stated their investigation shows Penny’s chokehold lasted not five but 15 minutes.“Some people say I was holding on to Mr. Neely for 15 minutes – not true. The whole interaction – less than five minutes,” Penny said in the videos shared with WPIX.Neely was a familiar face on the streets and in the subways, often working as a Michael Jackson impersonator. But investigators said Neely also had a documented history of mental heal...

'Wheel of Fortune' host Pat Sajak to leave show after 41st season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

"Wheel of Fortune" host Pat Sajak announced on Monday he will leave the show after its 41st season. "Well, the time has come," Sajak tweeted. "I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last. It’s been a wonderful ride, and I’ll have more to say in the coming months. Many thanks to you all. (If nothing else, it’ll keep the clickbait sites busy!)"Read more: Latest Chicago news headlinesThis story will be updated.

Two years after Sixth Street mass shooting: What's happened since?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Monday marks two years since the June 12, 2021 shooting on Sixth Street where one person died and 14 others were injured. Since then, the city launched Safer Sixth Street initiatives to improve safety in the entertainment district. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: One year since 6th Street mass shooting Here's a look at what has happened over the last year in the Sixth Street shooting's aftermath:Court proceedingsPolice arrested shooting suspect De'ondre White, 21, in Killeen June 24, 2021 in connection to the deadly shooting. In August 2021, a grand jury indicted White for one murder charge and 14 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Two teens were previously arrested in connection to the shooting, but their charges were dropped following new witness statements. Police said they believed White was the sole shooter in the mass shooting. White's next court appearance is scheduled for June 20. Jury selection for a trial is scheduled to begin in late August. White is ...

Food Bank: 1 in 5 Central Texas kids goes to bed hungry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Summer break is not always a good thing for all Central Texas families with food insecurity on the rise."Last summer, district-wide, we served about 20,000 meals," Chris Weddle, Del Vale ISD executive director of communications, said. ‘They were eating one meal a day’: More college students face food insecurity Del Valle ISD is one of many districts in Central Texas that offers free meals during the summer, not only to students but to community members, as well."During the school year a lot of our families depend on our school meals and that is really an extension of that into the summer," Weddle said. "We are very proud to be able to open up five of our locations for summer meals for anyone in the community 18 and under to come."Bahar DiFranco, who has three kids in Del Valle ISD, said she's happy to see these programs."It allows us time to be together, the kids like coming to the school," DiFranco said. "It helps financially because then I don't have to think abo...