That’s right!

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:00:24 GMT

That’s right! The state’s first annual Right Whale Day was celebrated with some fin-fare at the New England Aquarium.The scientists say they’ve documented more than 100 individual North Atlantic right whales in Cape Cod Bay this season as they spend more time in recent years feeding in Massachusetts waters before moving north to Canada later in the spring.Dozens more whales have also been sighted during New England Aquarium aerial surveys south of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.Still, the whales remain endangered.Chomper Hartman,6, from Berlin VT, carries a stuffed turtle past an inflatable Right Whale on display outside the New England Aquarium on Monday, in Boston, MA. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald) April 24, 2023

'Someone has to protect our kids': Parents patrol elementary school

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:00:24 GMT

'Someone has to protect our kids': Parents patrol elementary school SAN DIEGO -- Bird Rock Elementary has a new set of eyes looking out for the safety of their students. Parents on Patrol, or POP, have now rallied parent volunteers to take shifts walking the campus and perimeter of the school on the lookout for anything that might pose a threat to students inside. “We have phone in one hand and we have a radio in the other and all we do with the phone is we dial 9-1-1 if we see applicable trouble, and with the radio, we use that communicate to the faculty, staff,” said Todd Marchner, a parent volunteer who takes a shift walking the campus in the name of safety. DUI suspected in I-15 crash that killed 2, including 4-year-old The group was founded in the wake of the recent shooting in Nashville, Tennessee.“It was just very overwhelming, I felt very upset and I wanted to do something about it,” said Marchner. Gun violence has now overtaken car accidents as the leading cause for childhood death, according to the Center for Disease Control. Parents at ...

Man hit, killed by Amtrak train

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:00:24 GMT

Man hit, killed by Amtrak train SAN DIEGO -- Authorities were investigating Monday after finding a man hit by a southbound Amtrak train, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said.The collision occurred around 12:47 p.m. in the Bay Park neighborhood near the intersection of Santa Fe Street and Balboa Avenue, Sgt. Jason King said in a release.The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene, according to first responders. DUI suspected in I-15 crash that killed 2, including 4-year-old The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office will perform an autopsy to determine the identity of the victim and manner of death.The incident comes two weeks after two pedestrians were struck by trains in Carlsbad in a span of ten days.Anyone with information about the case can call the Sheriff's Department's non-emergency line at 858-565-5200.

Sheriff's department to hear public comments about military equipment

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:00:24 GMT

Sheriff's department to hear public comments about military equipment SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego County Sheriff's Department is hosting a community engagement meeting Monday night to talk about its military equipment use with the public. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at County Operations Center Campus Center Chambers, located at 5520 Overland Avenue in Kearny Mesa.The meeting is part of a state law that went into effect in January 2022. AB-481 requires departments post a report of its inventory of military equipment, cost and how the military equipment is used, plus hold a community engagement meeting to answer questions.The sheriff's department 72-page report details the San Diego County Sheriff's Department military equipment and its uses. It includes inventory such as unmanned aerial systems, drones, surveillance robots, armored vehicles, guns, ammunition, rifles, grenades, pepper spray and more. DUI suspected in I-15 crash that killed 2, including 4-year-old “It’s just transparency, I don’t see any kind of issue except the bad guys are going t...

City Council approves Civic Center revitalization project

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:00:24 GMT

City Council approves Civic Center revitalization project SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego City Council voted 8-1 Monday in favor of a proposal to redevelop six blocks with city-owned buildings in the downtown civic core.The Civic Center Revitalization Project declares five blocks as surplus while carving out a block for a new city administration building.Jay Goldstone, the mayor’s special advisor and lead planner for the project, says the dilapidated buildings are wasting taxpayer dollars. Body found in rural East County was victim of hotel murder: police “In terms of the new city administration building, there's no question that this building is outdated. We're spending more money just maintaining it each year than if we were to build a new building," said Goldstone.Another goal of the revitalization plan is to create more housing, including 1,000 to 1,500 units of affordable housing.“I think when we're all upset about homelessness, and rightfully so, the fact the matter is that is driven by our housing affordability crisis and one of the w...

Biden says teaching should not be ‘life-threatening’ job

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:00:24 GMT

Biden says teaching should not be ‘life-threatening’ job WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden honored the nation’s best teachers Monday, saying they go above and beyond by providing food and supplies out of their own pockets and often find themselves “explaining the unexplainable, from banned books to duck-and-cover drills.” “Teaching should not be a life-threatening profession,” Biden said, referencing deadly school shootings that plague the United States. “And educators should not need to be armed to feel safe in the classroom.” He spoke at a Rose Garden event that honored the Council of Chief State School Officers’ 2023 teachers of the year from each state. Tulsa, Oklahoma, math teacher Rebecka Peterson was named overall teacher of the year. Biden spoke of the challenges of the modern-day teacher, including gun violence and a growing movement from the right to ban books in classrooms, particularly those that reference gender and sexual identity. Attempted book bans hit an all-time high in 2022.“I never thought...

Fort Wayne cop in fatal crash had 4 previous on-duty crashes

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:00:24 GMT

Fort Wayne cop in fatal crash had 4 previous on-duty crashes FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — A Fort Wayne police officer whose vehicle fatally injured a pedestrian in a crosswalk was disciplined for four previous crashes while on duty, the department said Monday.Sgt. Joshua Hartup was suspended for a car crash in 2007, and he received letters of reprimand for crashes in 2000, 2005 and 2019, the police department said in a news release.The department’s “hearts go out to the family, friends and colleagues” of Henry Najdeski, the man who was struck by Hartup’s unmarked vehicle while crossing a street just before 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, police spokesman Jeremy Webb said in a statement.Najdeski, a partner in a law firm, died Saturday, his online obituary said.Hartup took a blood test at the scene of the crash and returned to work the following day. Police have begun internal and criminal investigations.Indiana State Police are assisting in the case, Webb said.Hartup said in a statement Monday that as he was completing a turn at an intersection Wednesday, “I ...

Kansas has new anti-ESG law amid raft of culture war vetoes

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:00:24 GMT

Kansas has new anti-ESG law amid raft of culture war vetoes TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials won’t be allowed to use environmental, social and governance factors in investing public funds or deciding who receives government contracts because the state’s Democratic governor is allowing a Republican measure to become law without her signature.Gov. Laura Kelly’s decision Monday came after she vetoed more than a dozen other anti-transgender, anti-abortion and culture war measures approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature. She nixed a bill Monday that would have allowed parents to remove their public school students from lessons or activities that offend them and another measure that Kelly said could have led to prison terms for some people helping immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. The new anti-ESG law, taking effect July 1, is part of a larger push from conservatives across the U.S. against what they see as “woke” practices pushing liberal climate or diversity goals. At least nine states have enacted such law...

Court denies request to lift gag order in Idaho killings

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:00:24 GMT

Court denies request to lift gag order in Idaho killings BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request by 30 news organizations to lift a gag order in the criminal case of a man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death. The high court did not weigh in on whether the gag order, which prohibits attorneys, prosecutors, law enforcement agencies and others involved in the case from talking to the news media, violates the First Amendment rights of a free press. Instead, the unanimous Idaho Supreme Court justices said the news organizations should have brought their request to the magistrate judge who issued the gag order.“This Court has long respected the media’s role in our constitutional republic, and honored the promises in both the Idaho Constitution and First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” Justice Gregory Moeller wrote in the decision, going on to quote a ruling from a federal case that said responsible press coverage, “guards against the miscarriage of justice” by subjecti...

Cuba cancels events, rations sales as fuel shortages worsen

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:00:24 GMT

Cuba cancels events, rations sales as fuel shortages worsen HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s fuel shortages have increased dramatically with authorities suspending activities, including a concert by the country’s national symphony, as well as rationing gasoline sales and moving some universities’ classes online. Cubans have experiences shortages of all kinds of goods amid the recent economic crisis but the cancellation of activities because of fuel shortages had not been reported previously. The cancellations come following days of long lines to get gasoline at filling stations. Experts say the lack of gasoline and diesel is not due to a lack of crude oil — Cuba produces about half of what it needs and buys the rest from other countries – but to the difficulties refining it. “There is no lack of crude oil in Cuba,” said Jorge Piñón, senior research fellow at the University of Texas at Austin’s Energy Institute. He said Venezuela is selling Cuba a similar amount of crude or even slightly more than it did last year. Cuba has also r...