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Sea lion at Central Park Zoo escapes flooded enclosure, swims to freedom as heavy rain batters NYC

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:56:43 GMT

Josephine Stratman | New York Daily NewsA sea lion got a taste of freedom — and murky brown floodwaters — after a deluge of rain battering NYC caused the Central Park Zoo sea lion pool to flood over on Friday.The zoo was closed on Friday due to the inclement weather — but the intrepid sea lion swam outside her enclosure as several inches of rain overwhelmed the plaza around the pool.“A female sea lion at Central Park Zoo was able to swim out of her pool due to flooding of the plaza caused by severe rains in New York City today,” Jim Breheny, Executive Vice President of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Zoos and Aquariums said in a statement.However, freedom apparently turned out to be not all it was cracked up to be, and she soon turned around and went back home.“Zoo staff monitored the sea lion as she explored the area before returning to the familiar surroundings of the pool and the company of the other two sea lions,” Breheny added.The Wildlife Conservation Society oversees the...

Last living suspect in 1996 drive-by shooting of Tupac Shakur indicted in Las Vegas on murder charge

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:56:43 GMT

By RIO YAMAT and KEN RITTER (Associated Press)LAS VEGAS (AP) — A man who prosecutors say ordered the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur was arrested and charged with murder Friday in a long-awaited breakthrough in one of hip-hop’s most enduring mysteries.Duane “Keffe D” Davis has long been known to investigators as one of four suspects identified early in the investigation. He isn’t the accused gunman but was described as the group’s ringleader by authorities Friday at a news conference and in court. “Duane Davis was the shot caller for this group of individuals that committed this crime,” said police homicide Lt. Jason Johansson, “and he orchestrated the plan that was carried out.”Davis himself has admitted in interviews and in his 2019 tell-all memoir, “Compton Street Legend,” that he provided the gun used in the drive-by shooting.Authorities said Friday that Davis’ own public comments revived ...

2 SD-area cities among least affordable rental markets for average income: study

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:56:43 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Two cities in San Diego County are among the top U.S. metro areas with the lowest number of rental properties that are affordable with an average salary, according to a new study.The study, conducted by personal finance website CashNetUSA, analyzed Zillow data from 200 cities across the nation to look at the number of properties that were available to rent for the traditional recommendation of 30% or less the area's average income.Over the last few decades, housing experts have used that percentage as the recommended amount of income that should be budgeted towards rent. However, finding a place using that metric has been increasingly more difficult. Top 8 San Diego area suburbs for first-time homeowners: study For renters in San Diego and Chula Vista, struggles finding an affordable rental is an all-too-familiar experience, in part due to persistent housing shortages in the the metros that drives up price amid high competition for available units.According to the stu...

Jessica Campbell, Kori Cheverie breaking barriers for female coaches in NHL

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:56:43 GMT

Jessica Campbell grew up wanting to play in the NHL.Now she’s finding a place for herself in hockey’s top men’s league — and it’s behind the bench.The Coachella Valley Firebirds assistant is in a position to make it as a coach, something she couldn’t have imagined even a few years ago.“I didn’t imagine this path for me. I didn’t see it,” she told The Canadian Press. “Quite frankly there was no visibility and there weren’t other females doing this work, and so I didn’t know it was possible.”Last year, the 31-year-old from Saskatchewan became the first female full-time coach in the American Hockey League.On Monday, she stood behind an NHL bench for the Seattle Kraken in a preseason game against the Calgary Flames.After getting a taste of life in the NHL, she’s intent on making it a full-time gig.“It’s motivating, it’s inspiring,” said Campbell of her experience on an NHL bench. “The other night was no different, being among the team, within the staff — and in that, it just showed me t...

IRS contractor charged with leaking tax return information of Trump, wealthy people

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:56:43 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former contractor for the Internal Revenue Service was charged Friday with leaking tax information to news outlets about thousands of the country’s wealthiest people. Charles Edward Littlejohn, 38, of Washington, D.C., is accused of stealing the tax return information and giving it to two different news outlets between 2018 and 2020, the Justice Department said in a statement. Littlejohn declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press, which also left a message for his attorney, Lisa Manning. Both organizations published numerous articles about the tax information, some of which dated back more than 15 years, charging documents state.The outlets are not named in charging documents, but the description and time frame align with stories about former President Donald Trump’s tax returns in The New York Times and reporting about wealthy Americans’ taxes in the nonprofit investigative journalism organization ProPublica. The 2020 New York Tim...

Defence minister insists $1B spending reduction is not a budget cut

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:56:43 GMT

OTTAWA — The country’s top soldier and outside experts say that finding almost $1 billion in savings in the Department of National Defence budget will affect the Armed Forces’ capabilities, although the defence minister insisted Friday the budget is not being cut.Deputy minister Bill Matthews told MPs on the House of Commons defence committee that the department is identifying “proposals for spending reductions” that total more than $900 million over four years, while trying to minimize the impact on military readiness. “We have to prioritize those decisions so that there is the least amount of impact possible, acknowledging that there will be impact,” Matthews said Thursday.The chief of the defence staff, Gen. Wayne Eyre, said top military leaders were meeting to discuss what that will mean. “I had a very difficult session this afternoon with the commanders of the various services as we attempt to explain this to our people,” Eyre sai...

Clean electricity regs can be tweaked, but no special deal for Alberta: Guilbeault

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:56:43 GMT

OTTAWA — There will be no special treatment for Alberta when it comes to Canada’s incoming regulations to make electricity cleaner, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Friday.The comments are the latest salvo in the seemingly never-ending battle between Alberta and Ottawa over climate policy.This one relates to new clean electricity regulations that Guilbeault published in draft form in August. The regulations will require all electricity to be from either renewable sources, like wind or hydro, or equipped with carbon-capture technology by 2035.Both Alberta and Saskatchewan have said that that is simply not doable, and they are instead targeting 2050 as the date for full emissions-free electricity. The two provinces still rely heavily on fossil fuels — natural gas for Alberta and coal and gas for Saskatchewan — to make power, and they say they can’t eliminate those or build enough carbon capture without hurting reliability or costing their residents a fortune.Alb...

Prince George, B.C. Mounties urge people not to feed coyotes after 6 attacks

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:56:43 GMT

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — Prince George Conservation and RCMP officers are “actively investigating” six separate coyote attacks within a week in the city.RCMP say in a statement they have issued a warning to the public after receiving separate complaints of the attacks. B.C. conservation officer Eamon McArthur says most of the attacks have been on homeless people, some of whom have also been “actively feeding” the coyotes. He says it’s unclear if they are feeding them by hand or tossing the food, but those coyotes now identify people with food. McArthur said coyotes have bitten some of these people when they’ve been sleeping. RCMP Cpl. Jennifer Cooper says they are now working with conservation officers on patrols to locate the “offending coyotes.”Cooper says the public needs to avoid feeding coyotes as it can lure them to spend more time in populated areas.“They are not domestic animals and should not be treated as such,” says Cooper.McArthur said his tea...

Brazil’s President Lula recovering in hospital after hip replacement surgery

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:56:43 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was recovering in a hospital Friday after undergoing a successful hip replacement operation, which is likely to put a temporary halt to his frequent international trips but otherwise not disrupt his activities.Dr Roberto Kalil told journalists Friday that the leftist leader would soon be transferred to his room at the Hospital Sirio-Libanes in capital Brasilia, after successful surgery that required a general anesthesia and lasted between two and three hours. Lula, 77, is expected to spend a few days in the hospital and to return to the presidential palace early next week. Lula also underwent minor eyelid surgery, Kalil said.The government had said Lula would remain president throughout instead of temporarily passing authority to Vice President Geraldo Alckmin.“The impact of Lula’s surgery will probably be small and should not affect the decision-making process or negotiations in a significant way,” said Paulo Calmo...

2 Mexican migrants shot dead, 3 injured in dawn attack on US border near Tecate, Mexico

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:56:43 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Two Mexican migrants were shot to death on the Mexican side of the U.S. border in the early hours of Friday morning, Mexico’s National Migration Institute said.Another three suffered gunshot wounds, but were assisted by one of institute’s emergency rescue teams, along with other nine people who were not injured.Rescue services found a group of 14 Mexican nationals at dawn on Cuchuma Hill near Tecate, a city in the border state of Baja California. By the time rescuers climbed up to meet the group, two migrants were already dead.The harsh desert hill is considered a sacred site by at least one Mexican Indigenous group, but is also used by migrant smugglers.The cause of the shooting is not known, but migrant crossings often involve agreements with local cartels for right of passage. Migrants are sometimes shot if their smuggler is working for a rival gang or if they haven’t paid passage rights.Migrants are also often robbed by roving gangs of thieves and ...