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Death toll from Maui fire reaches 93, but the effort to find and identify the dead is just beginning

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:30:11 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — As the death toll from a wildfire that razed a historic Maui town climbed to 93, authorities warned that the effort to find and identify the dead was still in its early stages. The blaze is already the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.Crews with cadaver dogs have covered just 3% of the search area, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said Saturday.“We’ve got an area that we have to contain that is at least 5 square miles, and it is full of our loved ones,” he said, noting that the number of dead is likely to grow and “none of us really know the size of it yet.”He spoke as federal emergency workers picked through the ashen moonscape left by the fire that razed the centuries-old town of Lahaina. Teams marked the ruins of homes with a bright orange “X” to indicate an initial search, and “HR” when they found human remains.Pelletier said identifying the dead is challenging because “we pick up the remains and they fall apart." The remains have b...

Medics responding to boat, jet ski crash on Lake Travis Sunday

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:30:11 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin-Travis County EMS are responding to a crash on Lake Travis involving a boat and jet ski Sunday afternoon. Officials responded to Captain Pete's Boathouse at 18200 Lakepoint Cove just before 3 p.m. Medics said CPR was in progress on one patient, per Travis County Sheriff's Office and the North Lake Travis Fire Department. Travis County Starflight was also responding to the scene.This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Spotty storms the next 3 days, but most stay dry

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:30:11 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Despite some morning clouds the sunshine pushed temperatures back into the triple digits in most areas on Sunday. High fire danger continues thanks to the dry air and southern breeze.The Red Flag Warning continues for every county today until 11 p.m.. As fire danger remains critically high, make sure you don't accidentally spark a dangerous situation this weekend.Tonight will be another night with mostly clear skies giving way to some areas of morning clouds. Overnight lows barely drop into the upper 70s.Monday starts the first of three days in a row with rain chances. Now, most of us will stay dry as rain coverage will be isolated to just 10%, but at least there's a chance.First day of school for some districts (including Austin ISD) on Monday.As high pressure moves northwest of us, there should be enough weakening of subsidence overhead to allow for some very isolated storms as a cool front approaches the Hill Country on Monday afternoon. Limited storm and shower ...

Meet undrafted rookie NaJee Thompson, the Vikings’ new special teams ace

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:30:11 GMT

It took roughly 10 seconds last week for undrafted rookie NaJee Thompson to show Vikings they might want to keep him around.Though most fans likely weren’t locked in when the Vikings punted to the Seattle Seahawks early in Thursday night’s preseason opener, that particular snap meant everything to Thompson in his pursuit of making the team.As a gunner on the outside, Thompson used his speed to weave through traffic in the middle of the field, eyed his target at the point of attack, then promptly leveled Seahawks returner Easop Winston Jr.The effort from @najee_thompson here pic.twitter.com/ohW4iWzOHZ— NFL (@NFL) August 11, 2023“You’re running down there with a plan,” Thompson said. “Sometimes the plan works, sometimes the plan doesn’t work. It comes down to effort.”That’s not an issue for Thompson. He prides himself on his special teams play; it’s a role he fully committed to while playing at Georgia Southern. After ...

Kyle Garlick unbowed by latest roster setback with Twins

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:30:11 GMT

When the Twins claimed Jordan Luplow off waivers on Aug. 4, the news didn’t land with much of an impact, nationally or even locally. For Kyle Garlick, however, it was something of a kick in the teeth.“It didn’t feel great,” Garlick said with a rueful chuckle last Friday.That’s because the stars appeared to finally be aligning for Garlick, who found a niche, if not a big league roster spot, within the organization as an outfielder and right-handed bat against lefties.So, when right-handed hitter Byron Buxton was placed on the injured list with a hamstring strain in his right leg, and with first baseman/outfielder Alex Kirilloff on the IL with a right shoulder strain, Garlick made sense for the Twins — even if they had to clear a 40-man roster spot for him.Especially considering Garlick had just finished a stretch in which he hit .366 with nine doubles, five homers and a whopping 32 RBIs in 22 games in June and July.Instead, the Twins picked Luplow off waivers from Toronto, moved righ...

Law-enforcement raid of small Kansas newspaper raises free press concerns

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:30:11 GMT

A small town in Kansas has become a battleground over the First Amendment, after the local police force and county sheriff’s deputies raided the office of the Marion County Record.Raids of news organizations are exceedingly rare in the United States, with its long history of legal protections for journalists. At the Record, a family-owned paper with a circulation of about 4,000, police seized computers, servers and cellphones of reporters and editors. They also searched the home of the publication’s owner and semiretired editor as well as the home of a member of the City Council.The searches, conducted Friday, appeared to be linked to an investigation into how a document containing information about a local restaurateur found its way to the local newspaper — and whether the restaurant owner’s privacy was violated in the process. The editor of the newspaper said the raids may have had more to do with tensions between the paper and officials in Marion, a town of about 2,000 north of W...

Developer settles with Aurora residents who sued to stop apartments

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:30:11 GMT

Aurora residents who sued the city to stop an apartment complex near their gated golf course community have closed the case after reaching a deal with its developer.The Garrett Cos., an Indiana-based builder of apartment complexes, intends to turn a vacant 15-acre lot at East Aurora Parkway and South Quemoy Way in southeast Aurora into Echelon at Eagle Bend. The complex would have 260 units inside a dozen buildings.Just south of the proposed Echelon at Eagle Bend is the Heritage Eagle Bend subdivision, home to residents who signed a petition, testified before the Aurora Planning and Zoning Commission and, when those tactics failed, filed a lawsuit to stop the project.Sixteen residents sued Mayor Mike Coffman, the Aurora City Council, the planning commission and Garrett Cos. in Arapahoe County District Court on April 5. They asked a judge to overturn a unanimous vote by the city’s planning commission approving the project.The complaint alleged that Echelon’s buildings will be 54 feet...

3 canine teams from L.A. County Fire Department leave for Maui to assist with search and rescue efforts 

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:30:11 GMT

The massive wildfire in Maui has triggered an outpouring of help from across the nation, and a coalition from Los Angeles County Fire Department left for the island to assist with search and rescue efforts.Three LAFD canine teams departed from LAX late Sunday morning to provide aid and support to the Maui Emergency Management Team. "We're expecting about a two week deployment," said L.A. County Fire Department firefighter paramedic Nicholas Bartel. "We are going to go find the victims of the fire and bring closure to the families."Three canine teams from the L.A. County Fire Department departed from LAX on Sunday, August 13, 2023. The teams will provide aid and support to the Maui Emergency Management Team. (Twitter/@LACOFD)Bartel is joined by Captain Celina Serrano and firefighter paramedic Edward Ruiz, as well as K9 Prentiss, K9 Harper and K9 Six.Search and recovery efforts on the state's second-largest island are ongoing and will continue for the foreseeable future. The death to...

Massachusetts pot boss apologizes as state’s weed sales hit all-time high

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:30:11 GMT

Cannabis board boss Shannon O’Brien is apologizing for her recent outburst saying she was too blunt in saying the state’s legal weed rollout was in a “crisis.”It came on the same day the commission announced the Bay State has hit a new one-month high in legal weed sales — $136 million in July.The previous record was set in June when 150 marijuana retailers sold $132.9 million in gummies, pre-rolls, drinks and other assorted THC-infused products.“I want to begin by apologizing to my fellow commissioners regarding the way I made an announcement before I left our July 28th meeting. I know I caught you off guard and I know that there was some concern about that,” she said Thursday.“At the time,” she added, “I believed I was alerting you to an important eventuality that I only discovered the day before.”The $181,722-a-year chair of the commission went on to say: “I was not graceful in doing it. I apologize for what I did.”O’Brien explained she was motivated by a desire to comply with the...

Varsho has 5 RBIs, Ryu gets first win since surgery as Jays avoid sweep, beat Cubs 11-4

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:30:11 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — Daulton Varsho homered and had five RBIs, Hyun Jin Ryu pitched five innings to win for the first time since returning from elbow surgery, and the Toronto Blue Jays avoided a three-game sweep by beating the Chicago Cubs 11-4 on Sunday.Whit Merrifield had four hits, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had two hits and two RBIs and Brandon Belt reached base four times as the Blue Jays used 14 hits to snap a three-game losing streak.The Cubs lost for the seventh time in 25 games. Chicago is 19-10 since the All-Star break and 8-4 in August.Varsho hit a three-run home run off Cubs starter Jameson Taillon (7-7) in Toronto’s five-run second inning, then added a two-run single off righty Hayden Wesneski in the fourth.Chicago’s Patrick Wisdom hit a two-run home run off right-hander Jay Jackson in the seventh, his 20th.Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson had two hits, including a two-run double in the first. Belt’s fielding error at first base on Ian Happ’s grounder meant the runs were unearned.Ryu...