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Mikala Jones, Hawaii surfer known for filming inside waves, dies in surfing accident

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:57 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Mikala Jones, a Hawaii surfer known for shooting awe-inspiring photos and videos from the inside of barreling waves, has died after a surfing accident in Indonesia. He was 44. Jones had gone out into the ocean Sunday morning during a trip to the Mentawai Islands off the western coast of Sumatra when his surfboard fin cut his femoral artery, said his father, dentist Dr. John Jones. The femoral artery is a large blood vessel in the thigh that delivers blood to lower limbs. “He was a humble artist. His pictures were incredible,” his father said in a phone interview from his Honolulu office on Monday. Jones’ Instagram account shows stunning images of waves curling around him from above while he crouches on his board. In some shots, a sunset or sunrise is visible through the curved wave opening in front of him. The elder Jones took photos for surfing magazines starting in the 1970s, but mostly shot from the beach or snapped pictures of other people in the water. Not...

Utah Supreme Court hears partisan gerrymandering challenge to congressional districts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:57 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in a case that centers on whether the state’s Republican-majority Legislature should be allowed to carve up Democratic-leaning Salt Lake County into four congressional districts.The court fight, which specifically asks whether state courts can review district maps drawn by elected officials and whether they violate the state constitution, is the latest battle over how states draw political maps and follows a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling denying legislatures absolute power to do so.Along with Kentucky, New Mexico and New York, Utah is among the states in which Republicans and Democrats are battling over whether partisan gerrymandering — drawing political maps that favor one party over another — violates the law and imperils people’s right to choose their representatives in a democracy.Seven voters and two advocacy groups — the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government — s...

US formally rejoins UNESCO after five-year absence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Tuesday formally rejoined the U.N.’s scientific, educational and cultural organization after a five-year absence.The U.S. return to the Paris-based UNESCO was based mainly on concerns that China has filled a leadership gap since the U.S. withdrew during the Trump administration. UNESCO’s governing board voted last week to approve the Biden administration’s proposal for the U.S. to rejoin. On Monday, the U.S. delivered a document certifying it would accept the invitation. On Tuesday, UNESCO’s Director General Audrey Azoulay said it was official. A welcome ceremony with a flag-raising and VIP guests is expected in late July.“This is excellent news for UNESCO. The momentum we have regained in recent years will now continue to grow. Our initiatives will be stronger throughout the world,” Azoulay said.The Biden administration had announced last month that it would apply to rejoin the 193-member organization that plays a major role in set...

The invasion of Ukraine spurred NATO to revamp its defense plans against Russian attack

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:57 GMT

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts on Tuesday endorsed the biggest shakeup since the Cold War of the way the military alliance would respond to any attack on its territory by Russia.Inspired in part by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the highly-secretive defense plans lay out which of the 31 member countries would be called on to respond an attack anywhere from the Arctic and Baltic Sea regions through the northern Atlantic and south to the Mediterranean and Black Seas.“Peace in the Euro-Atlantic area has been shattered,” the leaders said in a statement, laying out the twin threats posed by Russia and terrorism. “Together, this family of plans will significantly improve our ability and readiness to deter and defend against any threats, including on short or no notice, and ensure timely reinforcement of all Allies.”The leaders, meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, “committed to fully resource and regularly exercise these plans to be prepa...

Toronto’s speed cameras slow drivers down, new study reveals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:57 GMT

They may not be popular, but according to a new study Toronto’s speed cameras are quite effective when it comes to slowing drivers down.It’s been three years since the City of Toronto began ticketing motorists caught by the automated cameras. Since then, many drivers have had to foot the bill for their lead-footed ways.But beyond the obvious source of revenue, the City says a new study proves that the cameras make our roads safer.An evaluation study by researchers from SickKids Hospital and Toronto Metropolitan University analyzed speed and collision rates from January 2020 to December of last year at 204 camera locations.They study found that drivers slowed down in 80 per cent of the camera zones. There was also an overall reduction of 45 per cent in the proportion of people speeding, and an overall decrease of about seven kilometres an hour.Excessive speeding — defined as driving over the speed limit by 20 km/h or more — was also lowered by 87 per cent wher...

Fire that killed 2 on a cargo ship in New Jersey is out after nearly a week, officials say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:57 GMT

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Crews extinguished the intensely burning fire aboard a cargo ship docked in New Jersey after nearly a week and are now beginning their investigation into the blaze that killed two firefighters, officials said Tuesday. “We can officially declare the fire is out,” Coast Guard Capt. Zeita Merchant, the captain of the Port of New York and New Jersey, said during a news conference in Port Newark.It could be a while before officials know the cause of the blaze that started late Wednesday and left two Newark firefighters dead and five others injured. Authorities are now also beginning a salvage operation for the Grande Costa d’Avorio, which could take up to two months, Merchant said. Manifests showed there were no lithium ion battery vehicles onboard when the ship reached Newark, according to Bethann Rooney the port director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. However, it did have electric vehicles onboard when it reached Baltimore, where they were o...

State of emergency declared in Quebec town due to flood risk, more towns evacuating

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:57 GMT

MONTREAL — A town near Quebec City has declared a state of local emergency due to rising water levels, as heavy rain over many parts of the province has communities on alert for flooding.The mayor of Ste-Brigitte-de-Laval announced the state of emergency today, after officials in the town ordered the evacuation of more than 200 homes late Monday due to flood risk.Environment Canada has issued rainfall or thunderstorm warnings for several parts of the province, and has warned of possible flooding in low-lying areas.The province’s flood map shows medium flooding at one monitoring station in the Quebec City area, and minor flooding at nine other stations, including several in the Estrie region, east of Montreal.The city of Sherbrooke, 150 kilometres east of Montreal, says it has ordered preventive evacuations for about 144 residences in sectors close to the river, and has warned that the number could rise. Cookshire-Eaton, just east of Sherbrooke, also announced it was evacuating...

Milwaukee council approves sales tax hike as part of plan to avoid bankruptcy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:57 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The sales tax in Milwaukee will go up 2 cents per dollar next year after the Common Council voted Tuesday to raise the rate as part of a bipartisan plan to avoid bankruptcy.City leaders who pushed for approval of the higher sales tax warned of looming deep cuts to core services, including police and fire protection. Opponents objected to strings attached to additional state funding, including curbing spending on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.“The wolf is at the door,” Milwaukee Alderman Robert Bauman argued in support of the sales tax. “You can’t chase the wolf away anymore, and we are dealing with some serious challenges that have to be addressed.”Milwaukee is struggling with an underfunded pension system and not enough money to maintain essential police, fire and emergency services. Milwaukee has increasingly become reliant on federal pandemic aid to fund its essential services, which city leaders have said cost $150 million more per year to maintain...

Fossilized skeletons of aerial and aquatic predators to be auctioned by Sotheby’s

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The fossilized skeletons of an aerial predator with a 20-foot (6-meter) wingspan and an aquatic reptile with a snake-like neck will be auctioned in New York this month, Sotheby’s announced Tuesday.The two creatures, both tens of millions of years old, will be sold July 26 in the latest sale of prehistoric fossils from the auction house that launched a new era of fossil auctions by selling a Tyrannosaurus rex named Sue in 1997.“More than 25 years since the groundbreaking sale of Sue the T. rex at Sotheby’s, we are very excited to now turn our attention to its predatory peers of the sky and the sea,” Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s head of science and popular culture, said.The mounted skeletons that will be auctioned this month are a pteranodon, a huge bird-like animal that lived about 85 million years ago, and a plesiosaur, an 11-foot (3.3-meter) marine reptile of the type that is thought to have inspired the legend of the Loch Ness monster.The pteranodo...

Dig resumes for children’s remains at former Native American boarding school in Nebraska

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:57 GMT

GENOA, Neb. (AP) — Archeologists resumed digging Tuesday at the remote site of a former Native American boarding school in central Nebraska, searching for the remains of children who died there decades ago. The search for a hidden cemetery near the former Genoa Indian Industrial School in Nebraska gained renewed interest after the discovery of hundreds of children’s remains at other Native American boarding school sites across the U.S. and Canada since 2021, said Dave Williams, the state’s archeologist whose team is digging at the site.The team hasn’t found human remains yet, Williams said, but the dig only began on Monday and is expected to last through the week.“Where is the cemetery and how many people are buried there? It’s the big question that’s hanging in the air,” said Alyce Tejral, a board member of the nearby Genoa U.S. Indian School Foundation Museum.The school was part of a national system of more than 400 Native American boarding schools that att...