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DeSantis, Newsom clash over COVID-19 in testy debate: Live updates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:09 GMT

Govs. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) and Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) sparred Thursday over issues including COVID-19 policies and immigration in a televised debate hosted by Fox News.Sean Hannity is moderating the "Great Red vs. Blue State Debate," a culmination of months of rising tensions between the political rivals. While DeSantis will be the sole 2024 presidential candidate on stage, stakes are high for both governors. Here's how to watch the event, which will be held at 9 p.m. EST live from Alpharetta, Ga.And follow along here for live updates.

Maple Leafs’ Marner nets hat trick, shootout winner against Kraken

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:09 GMT

Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner scored a hat trick and netted the shootout winner to give his team a 4-3 win against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.The 26-year-old entered the game not having scored a goal since Nov. 6 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It’s Marner’s second career hat trick. Without a point in his last three outings, Marner had been a focus of attention over the last stretch in Toronto for admittedly sub-par play – along with Auston Matthews – on the Leafs’ top line. Head coach Sheldon Keefe split up his dynamic duo ahead of Tuesday’s 2-1 shootout win over Florida, looking for a spark.Marner opened the scoring in the first period and added his next goal in the second to give Toronto an early 2-0 lead. After Jared McCann and the Kraken answered, Marner would score his third goal of the game on a breakaway. The Kraken would tie the game 3-3 to force overtime, leading to another shootout for the Maple Leafs. After Matthews beat...

Greens win second Ontario seat in provincial byelection

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:09 GMT

The Green Party of Ontario doubled its ranks in the provincial legislature with a byelection Thursday sending a second representative to join party leader Mike Schreiner.Aislinn Clancy won handily in Kitchener Centre over the New Democratic candidate, in what had been an NDP riding since 2018. Clancy, a social worker and city councillor, is now just the second Green member of provincial parliament in Ontario after Schreiner, who represents the nearby riding of Guelph.“The Green Party has a caucus now,” said Andrea Perrella, an associate professor of political science at Wilfrid Laurier University.“Two heads are better than one and one head (Schreiner) is already doing quite a bit of work. Likely the dynamics will be that much more interesting. Now, it’s not as if the Greens will have much more of a say, as a backbench party. The capacity for interventions in legislative affairs is fairly limited. But just the same, their visibility has doubled.”Mike Mor...

'Dude, where's my car?': Winter parking ban goes into effect tonight

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:09 GMT

CHICAGO — There are just hours left until Chicago's winter parking ban goes into effect, but what does that exactly mean for street parking in the City?"Starting at 3 a.m., tow trucks will be lining up to move cars parked along 107 miles of some of the city’s busiest streets," said Cole Stallard, commission for the City's Department of Streets and Sanitation.From Dec. 1 until April 1, there is no parking allowed from 3-7 a.m. on streets that display the signs below:A map of the 107 miles of streets affected by the winter parking ban can be found at the end of this article.According to Stallard, 242 cars were towed on Dec. 1 last year when the winter parking ban went into effect last year."I look down my window, don’t see my car down there," said one Chicagoan who was among the 242 towed on Dec. 1 last year. "I look down the street and see just a bunch of tow trucks. So I sprint down and I'm like telling this guy, 'I'll give you cash, just give me my car back!' and he was like, 'you ...

Survivors of Our Lady of the Angels tell their story on solemn anniversary

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:09 GMT

CHICAGO — Sixty-five years ago Friday marks one of the worst school fires in our nation’s history.Our Lady of the Angels Catholic School in Chicago’s Humboldt Park left a staggering number of children and three nuns dead.Our Lady of the Angels parish was the center of the community, home to generations of families who grew up attending the school and the church. But their lives were forever changed on that frigid Monday in 1958.The fire which started in a paper-filled barrel in the basement slowly simmered. Fifteen minutes later, it grew. enveloping the North Wing of the school trapping hundreds of students on the second floor.Laura Bisconti was in Room 208. “Sister Canice, our nun, she went to the open door and more smoke came in so she said, ‘Keep it closed. Do not go out. “ay on the floor and put your head down and just pray,’” Bisconti said.Ron Sarno was 10, trapped in Room 210 with his younger sister, Joanne. “We got separated in the chaos and I managed to get to the ...

Report: Residents near Sterigenics facility could face increased risk of cancer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:09 GMT

CHICAGO — If you lived or worked within a mile radius of the Sterigenics facility in Willowbrook, a new study finds you could be at an increased lifetime risk of cancer."For the risk of certain lymphoid cancers, including non Hodgkin's Lymphoma, as well as for breast cancer," said Lydia Hoadley, an environmental health scientist.The Willowbrook facility used ethylene oxide (EtO), a cancer causing gas, to sterilize medical equipment and other goods. Sterigenics used EtO at the facility from 1984 until 2019. PREVIOUS: Sterigenics paying $408M to settle 870 lawsuits While it was closed in 2019, researchers with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Register (ATSDR) studied levels of ethylene oxide in the air prior to the closing.During a virtual meeting, scientists with the agency explained the results of the study and answered questions about the findings."If you are concerned about your past exposure to EtO and your health, we would encourage you to speak to your doctor," Hoa...

Texas judge orders release of Uvalde shooting records, but DPS could still delay

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:09 GMT

AUSTIN (The Texas Tribune) -- A Travis County state district judge has ordered the Department of Public safety to release law enforcement records related to the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, more than a year after a consortium of news organizations sued for access.261st Civil District Court Judge Daniela Deseta Lyttle ordered DPS to fulfill 28 records requests filed by the news organizations, which include The Texas Tribune and ProPublica, subject to redactions such as personal information of police officers and blurring the faces of minor victims in crime scene photographs.The files would shed light on the disastrous police response that day, in which officers waited more than an hour to confront the shooter after learning he had an AR-15 style rifle.Lyttle issued a preliminary order in June; the one issued Tuesday is the final judgment. It requires DPS to provide the records sought within 20 days, unless the state police agency appeals the ruling.“DPS promised to disclose the re...

What is the HOME initiative? What to know about Austin's latest push for more housing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:09 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- If you're paying attention to Austin politics, you're probably hearing a whole lot about the "HOME" initiative. There's both staunch opposition and support for the measure. Austin City Council will have a public hearing on Dec. 7 before discussing amendments -- which are still being finalized by council members -- and voting on the overall ordinance. Here's what you need to know. First thing's first: What is HOME? HOME, an acronym for Home Options for Middle-income Empowerment, is a series of proposed changes to Austin's land development code -- and other incentives for creating or preserving housing. It has several elements to it, and there are expected to be additional phases moving forward. The following are the proposed changes in phase one: Three units: Bumping the number of units "by right" allowed on a single-family lot to threeTiny Homes: Patching loopholes in Austin's land development code to more easily allow for tiny homes to be considered a unit on a lo...

Tesla Cybertruck rolls out in Austin-- would you drive one?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:09 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) —  In Texas, a good barbeque spot can draw a crowd, just ask Sheri Kurland who stopped at La Barbeque in East Austin for some dinner."I am sold on Texas Barbeque," said Kurland, who was visiting Austin from California.There's something else that can draw a crowd as well, like the New Tesla Cybertruck."It was pretty awesome," Kurland said. "I didn't know it was going to be here."Phillip Sarofim, the new owner of the Tesla Cybertruck, and on this day he got the best of both worlds, a little barbecue and a new ride."Today was delivery day so I was lucky enough to be in the first 20 people to get cars," Sarofim said. Tesla plans to spend $700M+ to expand Austin gigafactory Sarofim lives in LA and made the trek to Austin when he heard he would be getting one of the first Cybertrucks at the Giga Factory in Austin, Texas."It's like driving a spaceship," Sarofim said.Sarofim was nice enough to show KXAN some of the features."Here is the door, you press here and open it,...

Israel knew Hamas’ attack plan more than a year ago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:09 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli officials obtained Hamas’ battle plan for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack more than a year before it happened, documents, emails and interviews show. But Israeli military and intelligence officials dismissed the plan as aspirational, considering it too difficult for Hamas to carry out.The approximately 40-page document, which Israeli authorities code-named “Jericho Wall,” outlined, point by point, exactly the kind of devastating invasion that led to the deaths of about 1,200 people.The translated document, which was reviewed by the New York Times, did not set a date for the attack, but described a methodical assault designed to overwhelm the fortifications around the Gaza Strip, take over Israeli cities and storm key military bases, including a division headquarters.Hamas followed the blueprint with shocking precision. The document called for a barrage of rockets at the outset of the attack, drones to knock out the security cameras and automated machine guns a...