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Lahaina family finds cherished heirlooms and devastation in first home visit after deadly wildfire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:06 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Leola Vierra stepped gingerly among the hardened pools of melted metal, charred wood and broken glass that are almost all that remain of the home where she lived for nearly 50 years.Sifting through the rubble, she found two cow-patterned vessels, part of her extensive collection of bovine figurines. Nearby, her son discovered the blackened remnants of his late grandfather’s pistol from his days as a Lahaina policeman from the late 1940s to 1970s. There was no sign of the beloved cat, Kitty Kai, that used to greet her when she came home from work and church.“I’m so sad — devastated,” she said. “This was my home.”Vierra, her husband and two adult children returned to the property Tuesday for the first time since the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century whipped through on Aug. 8, obliterating the historic town of Lahaina and killing at least 97 people. They were among the first small group of residents to be allowed back into the burn zone t...

1 rushed to hospital after North York shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:06 GMT

A man in his 20s has been rushed to hospital after he was shot in North York on Tuesday night. Police say it happened in the Driftwood Avenue and Grandravine Drive area at around 11 p.m. The victim was found at the scene and taken to hospital with undisclosed injuries. There’s no word on suspects.

Over 100 masked teens ransack and loot Philadelphia stores leading to several arrests, police say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:06 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Groups of teenagers swarmed into stores in Philadelphia’s Central City on Tuesday, stuffing plastic bags with merchandise and fleeing, although police made several arrests, authorities and witnesses said.An Apple Store was hit at around 8 p.m. and police chased fleeing teenagers, recovering dropped iPhones and a “pile of iPads” at one spot, a police statement said.More than 100 people who appeared to be teenagers looted a Lululemon store, NBC10 Philadelphia reported, citing a police officer. Video posted on social media showed masked people in hoodies running out of Lululemon and police officers grabbing several and tackling them to the sidewalk, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.No injuries were immediately reported but CBS Philadelphia said a security guard was assaulted at the Foot Locker.The flash mob-style ransacking followed an earlier peaceful protest over a judge’s Tuesday decision to dismiss murder and other charges against a Philadelphia po...

Neighbors living near planned rock-crushing plant voice concerns at TCEQ meeting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:06 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Neighbors living near the site of a planned rock crushing plant in east Austin said they're worried about the impact on their air quality at a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality public meeting Tuesday.The location of the plant is at 300 Edwin Lane, which is less than two miles away from more than 250 single-family homes. The TCEQ decided to move forward with the approval process for the plant in April.According to TCEQ, Ranger Excavating Inc. applied to register the rock crushing plant under the Air Quality Standard Permit for Permanent Rock and Concrete Crushers. TCEQ moves forward in approval process for east Austin rock-crushing plant, despite pushback At least 100 neighbors left comments on TCEQ's website back in April saying why they didn't want the permit to be approved for the plant. On Tuesday, neighbors said they have dealt with dust from other temporary rock-crushing plants in the area.Furthermore, those neighbors said at the meeting that exposure...

St. Louis Fashion Fund kicks off 10th anniversary with special announcements

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:06 GMT

ST. LOUIS – Ten years after its humble beginnings in the basement of a University City eatery, the St. Louis Fashion Fund continues to give us a reason to believe St. Louis can reclaim its roots as one of the country’s fashion capitals.Susan Sherman co-founded the St. Louis Fashion Fund and serves as its board chair.“I will tell you that other cities around the country are trying to create a fashion district. Are trying to attract designers. We already have them. We have the bones. We have the infrastructure. So, we’re already here,” she said. “Which makes it very attractive to young brands who want to move to St. Louis and build a business here.”Jason Hall, CEO of Greater St. Louis Inc., believes the Fashion Fund can build on that foundation for the betterment of the city and beyond. Adam Wainwright says he has thrown his final pitch “Embracing the great art, creativity, and design that St. Louis is known for and recognizing this is big business,” Hall said. “We have large compan...

Mother of 4 stuck in condemned taxpayer-funded apartment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:06 GMT

ST. LOUIS - A mother of four is living in horrendous conditions in an apartment subsidized by the St. Louis City Housing Authority. This unit is so bad the city condemned it, but the mother is still there because she has nowhere else to go with her children. Aigner Jesse made the desperate call to our You Paid For It team for help.The ceiling of Jesse’s home collapsed during a storm. You can see clear through to the roof. She says it collapsed between two and three months ago.“I was calling before it escalated to that, but they told me they would come out and see. They postponed it for a whole week. July 24, it collapsed, and they told me there was nothing they could do about it,” she said.Jesse says the ceiling on a lower floor is also ready to cave in. The Housing Authority can’t do much, she says.“They told me there’s nothing they can do besides give me my voucher,” she said. “It may take up to 60 days, so that means that’s another two months of me and my kids sitting here.”To ma...

St. Louis County Police Department seeking new recruits for 2024 class

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:06 GMT

CLAYTON, Mo. – The St. Louis County Police Department is looking for more recruits for the next academy class. Applications are open for the class starting in January 2024.The current police recruits spent the day responding to mock calls to get them more hands-on experience.“We’ve done a lot of the physical training aspect of it. We’ve started up the defensive training as well as firearms, but a lot of it has been primarily classwork stuff," said recruit Xander Smith.“It’s been really cool to see such a diverse group of people within our academy, because you learn from a lot of the academy instructors but also from the fellow recruits that we have. Each come from all walks of life. Some with prior experience, some with little experience.”Smith recently graduated from college and comes from a law enforcement family. He knows it's a rewarding profession.“In law enforcement, you engage with people when they’re at their most broken, and you get to help them as they walk past that point...

Rockies’ 100th loss comes in blowout vs. Dodgers, naturally

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:06 GMT

Thanks to veteran right-hander Chase Anderson and rookie left fielder Nolan Jones, the Rockies were able to stave off the inevitable.For a few hours, anyway.After defeating the Dodgers, 4-1, in the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader at Coors Field, the Rockies were clobbered in Game 2, losing 11-2. And so, for the first time in their 31 seasons of existence, the Rockies lost 100 games.Fittingly, No. 100 came against the Dodgers, who have dominated the Rockies for most of those 31 years. This season, the Rockies are 2-9 against the National League West bullies, including going 0-6 at Dodger Stadium, their first winless season at Los Angeles in franchise history.The nightcap was ugly and it was over early.In the second inning, the Dodgers sent nine men to the plate and scored five runs on six hits against right-hander Ryan Feltner, who was making his second start since returning from the injured list where he recovered from a fractured skull and a concussion suffered on May 13...

Rockies’ road to 100: The omens, injuries and ugly defeats that led to Colorado’s worst season in franchise history

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:06 GMT

The 2023 Colorado Rockies are officially infamous.The Rockies lost 100 games for the first time in franchise history, a dubious feat sealed by a 11-2 defeat to the Dodgers in the nightcap of a doubleheader Tuesday at Coors Field. The milestone loss was the exclamation point on Colorado’s season-long blueprint for failure — one that featured a dearth of both pitching and experience.Colorado got hit with a rash of starting pitching injuries, and once that happened, the club lacked any semblance of rotational depth. The Rockies’ rotation was already subpar when the spring began. By midseason, it was a glorified Triple-A rotation.They got dominated within the National League West (13-37 and now 2-9 against L.A.) and were the worst road team in baseball (22-59). Colorado started slowly, with 20 losses in April for the first time, and the second half wasn’t any better, with a franchise-worst 20 losses in August.Behind that shoddy rotation, a bullpen filled with vet...

Man arrested in shooting at Denver homeless encampment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:06 GMT

Denver police have arrested a man suspected of a shooting at a homeless encampment in the 1700 block of Logan Street in August, injuring two people.Eugeneo Hinojosa, 55, was arrested Sept. 12 on suspicion of three counts of first-degree attempted murder, according to jail and court records.The shooting was reported at 1:34 p.m. Aug. 21 when Denver Police Department gunshot detectors detected 10 gunshots and bystanders called 911 to report shots fired.Witnesses told police that a woman was standing outside her tent when Hinojosa approached her with a gun, yelling about wanting his keys back.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Man, 23, arrested on attempted murder in Colfax shooting in Denver Crime and Public Safety | One man killed, one injured in overnight Lakewood shooting Crime and Public Safety | Man pleads guilty to second-degree murder in 2021 Commerce City shooting Crime and Public Safety | 1 killed, 1 injured ov...