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La Nina is gone. Here are the deadly storms during its run

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:03:48 GMT

La Nina seemed to treat Louisiana and the rest of the Southeast United States like a punching bag. Its three-year barrage of body blows has come to an end, but left behind a lot of scars from hurricanes and tornadoes among other weather disasters.Experts caution that attributing any single event to La Nina or its better-known cousin, El Nino, is difficult as they pronounced Thursday that the La Nina weather phenomenon has come to an end. But they can say generally that tornadoes in the Southeast and hurricanes are more frequent during La Nina.Here are some examples of the 44 different billion-dollar extremes of nasty weather during La Nina’s reign:1. A historic December 2021 tornado outbreak in Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri and Arkansas that killed 93 people and caused $4.2 billion in damage. Tornadoes twisted across 800 miles, including one single tornado that plowed across nearly 166 miles of Kentucky and a bit of Tennessee. At the time scientists attributed warm air during a cold...

Columnist’s tweet about Jagmeet Singh’s turban called out by Sikh community

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:03:48 GMT

A tweet from a Toronto Sun columnist about federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s turban choice is being called “insensitive” and “inappropriate” by Canada’s Sikh community.While MPs were questioning grocery store CEOs in the House of Commons on Wednesday, columnist Brian Lilley tweeted a picture of Singh, with the caption, “Jagmeet looks like he wore his No Name turban today just to grill Galen Weston at committee.”“I know he changes the colours for special days or occasion [sic] but didn’t expect to see No Name yellow today. Is it on purpose or a coincidence?” the tweet continued.Jagmeet looks like he wore his No Name turban today just to grill Galen Weston at committee.I know he changes the colours for special days or occaision but didn't expect to see No Name yellow today. Is it on purpose or a coincidence? pic.twitter.com/rOmModWgkc— Brian Lilley (@brianlilley) March 8, 2023Gurpreet Kaur Rai, a spokesperson...

Security guard injured after Wacker Drive bank robbery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:03:48 GMT

CHICAGO — A security guard was injured after being injured during a bank robbery in downtown Chicago Thursday.According to police, law enforcement responded to an armed robbery at the Fifth Third Bank on South Wacker Drive in downtown Chicago just before 3 p.m. Thursday evening.WGN-TV crews were able to confirm that a suspect shot out a window during the armed robbery before fleeing the scene. Pedestrians told WGN-TV crews that cash could be seen flying around outside the bank.A 59-year-old bank security guard confronted the suspect when they pulled out a gun and began shooting.The security guard produced his service weapon and fired back at the suspect. The 59-year-old suffered a graze wound before the suspect fled the scene eastbound on Madison AvenueThe security guard was injured and treated at the scene, according to police. According to the FBI, the suspect is described as being about 5 feet 7 inches tall and was wearing a black hooded jacket, a mask, winter gloves and blue jea...

Robert Blake, actor acquitted in wife's murder, dies at 89

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:03:48 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Robert Blake, the Emmy award-winning performer who went from acclaim for his acting to notoriety when he was tried and acquitted of murdering his wife, died Thursday at age 89.A statement released on behalf of his niece, Noreen Austin, said Blake died from heart disease, surrounded by family at home in Los Angeles.Blake, star of the 1970s TV show, "Baretta," had once hoped for a comeback, but he never recovered from the long ordeal which began with the shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, outside a Studio City restaurant on May 4, 2001. The story of their strange marriage, the child it produced and its violent end was a Hollywood tragedy played out in court.Once hailed as among the finest actors of his generation, Blake became better known as the defendant in a real-life murder story more bizarre than any in which he acted.In a 2002 interview with The Associated Press while he was jailed awaiting trial, he bemoaned the change in his status with his fans n...

Robert Blake, actor acquitted in wife's killing, dies at 89

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:03:48 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Robert Blake, the Emmy award-winning performer who went from acclaim for his acting to notoriety when he was tried and acquitted in the killing of his wife, died Thursday at age 89.A statement released on behalf of his niece, Noreen Austin, said Blake died from heart disease, surrounded by family at home in Los Angeles.Blake, star of the 1970s TV show, "Baretta," had once hoped for a comeback, but he never recovered from the long ordeal which began with the shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, outside a Studio City restaurant on May 4, 2001. The story of their strange marriage, the child it produced and its violent end was a Hollywood tragedy played out in court.Once hailed as among the finest actors of his generation, Blake became better known as the defendant in a real-life murder trial, a story more bizarre than any in which he acted.In a 2002 interview with The Associated Press while he was jailed awaiting trial, he bemoaned the change in his status w...

DA denies claim the gun used in 'Rust' shooting was destroyed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:03:48 GMT

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) — Alec Baldwin’s attorney told a judge on Thursday that the state destroyed the gun used in the deadly “Rust” movie-set shooting. The announcment was made during a status hearing in the case against “Rust” actor-producer Alec Baldwin and the film’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. However, the New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney released a statement after the hearing stating that the gun was not destroyed.During the hearing, an attorney for Baldwin, Alex Spiro, said he received an email from the state that the defense would be receiving discovery Thursday. Spiro also brought up the fact that the firearm at the center of this case has been destroyed by the state. "That's obviously an issue, and we're going to have to see that firearm — or what's left of it," Spiro said. Local man who originally was offered armorer job on ‘Rust’ speaks out The New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney released the following statement:“The gun Alec Baldwin used in the s...

6 bills filed on school safety, funding and the teacher shortage — what you need to know

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:03:48 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Days before the bill filing deadline, Texas lawmakers announced a flurry of new bills aimed at solving some of the largest problems facing the state’s public schools: safety and its dwindling workforce.Here’s what you need to know.House Bill 11: Teacher pay and workloadThis bill, filed by Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, will attempt to codify many of the recommendations made by the Teacher Vacancy Task Force.The group of more than 40 public school teachers and administrators spent more than a year coming up with potential solutions to an overwhelming number of teachers quitting and retiring.One of the recommendations found in the bill is an increase in the state’s per-pupil funding – or basic allotment – from $6,160 to $6,210.The state would also adopt a new tiered structure, under this bill, to set the minimum salary for teachers. Right now, school districts can’t pay a first-year teacher less than $33,660 salary.  Dallas Independent School District placed a bil...

Multiple dead in Jehovah's Witness hall shooting in Germany

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:03:48 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Shots were fired inside a building used by Jehovah's Witnesses in the northern German city of Hamburg on Thursday evening, and several people were killed or wounded, police said.“We only know that several people died here; several people are wounded, they were taken to hospitals,” police spokesman Holger Vehren said of the shooting in the Gross Borstel district of Germany’s second-biggest city. . He said he had no information on the severity of the injuries suffered by the wounded. Police did not confirm German media reports, which named no sources, of six or seven dead.The scene of the shooting was the Jehovah's Witnesses' Kingdom Hall, a modern and boxy three-story building next door to an auto repair shop. Vehren said police were alerted to the shooting about 9:15 p.m. and were on the scene quickly. He said that after officers arrived and found people with apparent gunshot wounds on the ground floor, they heard a shot from an upper floor and found a fatally wounded ...

Study shows exercise plays a direct role in reducing breast cancer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:03:48 GMT

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KXAN) – It has long been understood that exercise can be beneficial in preventing some types of cancers, but only in recent years have scientists started to understand why.A team of Texas A&M researchers showed in a recently published paper that a hormone secreted by muscles during exercise can reduce tumor growth and even kill cancerous cells. “That was the cool and, I guess, groundbreaking news that we were able to show mechanistically – there is something released from skeletal muscle. When we put it on cancer cells, it slows the growth and sometimes kills them,” said Amanda Davis, a Clinical Assistant Professor at the School of Veterinary Medicine.When skeletal muscles contract during exercise, hormones called myokines are released. This hormone goes into the bloodstream and can suppress the growth of those cancerous cells. Davis said they also investigated whether this phenomenon occurred in both long-time fitness enthusiasts and exercise n...

How Williamson County is paying for ice storm cleanup

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:03:48 GMT

GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said the county expects the bill for storm damage could reach $15-$20 million in just a few months.This week Williamson County Commissioners extended the county's disaster declaration, which gives it the opportunity to be reimbursed by the federal government for ice storm recovery costs. Williamson County extends disaster declaration until June after ice storm Currently, the county estimates it already spent $12 million on recovery, most efforts going toward brush pickup and disposal.Gravell said a lot of the money being spent for recovery has come out of a 'rainy day' fund.He said the county does not budget for emergencies per say, but has used this same fund for past disaster relief.Gravell said the county's commissioner's court has put money into that fund over the years it anticipated using for surprise expenses including disasters.Some of those recent disasters being the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 February freeze an...