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Here’s how to get ahead of travel nightmares this holiday season

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:18 GMT

By Lebawit Lily Girma, Bloomberg NewsHopefully you’ve heeded the experts and booked your end-of-year travel earlier than you did last year. But no matter how well you’ve gotten ahead of your holiday plans, if you’re one of the almost 50% of Americans who say they’re traveling sometime between Thanksgiving weekend and January, there’s a good chance you could experience disruptions this winter season.Almost a quarter (24%) of flights out of U.S. airports have faced delays so far this year, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation — up from 19% in 2021. That means your flight has a more than 1 in 5 chance of not leaving on time. The winter storms and technology issues that snarled operations for Southwest Airlines Co. in December 2022 could easily affect a different carrier this season, says Mike Arnot, an airline industry analyst and spokesperson for aviation data company Cirium.Yet, U.S. airlines are better prepared for operational challenges this season, experts at Cirium ...

No shots for Spot? Study finds owners’ vaccine hesitancy can extend to pet dogs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:18 GMT

Jeremy Childs | Los Angeles Times (TNS)LOS ANGELES — Individuals who are skeptical of vaccines for themselves are also more like to question the need or efficacy of getting shots for their four-legged companions, according to a recent study.In the study, published in the medical journal Vaccine, researchers asked 2,200 Americans their thoughts on vaccines and whether they were dog owners. If they were, respondents were then asked whether they would vaccinate their dogs for rabies.Approximately half of the pet owners surveyed expressed some degree of vaccine hesitancy — with 53% saying they believed vaccines administered to dogs were unsafe, ineffective or unnecessary, the study found.That group was 6% more likely to have dogs that were not vaccinated for rabies, and 27% more likely to oppose rabies vaccine mandates when compared with survey respondents who did not express vaccine hesitancy, according to predicted probabilities outlined in the study.Matt Motta, an assistant professor...

State using Transportation Building to house migrants, homeless

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:18 GMT

Some migrant families who were unable to enter an already overfilled state shelter system will be temporarily housed at the Transportation Building in Boston.With the state’s Emergency Assistance shelters filled to their 7,500 family capacity, a small number of new arrivals to Massachusetts will be housed at 10 Park Plaza in Boston, home of the headquarter for the state’s transportation agencies including the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, according to officials with the Healey administration.“In order to ensure that families eligible for Emergency Assistance shelter have a safe and warm place to sleep at night when there is not a shelter unit immediately available, the administration is utilizing space at 10 Park Plaza as a temporary, overnight facility,” Emergency Assistance Director Scott Rice said in a statement.Families will arrive Monday night, a DOT official told the Herald. They will be housed in a conference room, which was apparently being filled with co...

2 people killed in shooting outside an Anchorage Walmart

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:18 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Two people were shot and killed Sunday night outside a Walmart in south Anchorage, and police say they are searching for a suspect.Police found the bodies of a man and woman behind two trucks in the parking lot, near the store’s entrance. A firearm was also found, police said in a statement issued late Sunday evening.Police have released few other details but did say they believe it is an isolated incident. There have been no arrests, and police said it remains an active investigation.Police spokesperson Renee Oistad said in an email that they do not anticipate releasing any more information until Tuesday.Sean Keating, an APD officer and crime scene team leader, told the Anchorage Daily News that it was fortunate no one else was injured by gunfire.“That just happened right outside the main entrance. It’s just insane,” Keating said.The store was evacuated before closing for the day, and officers helped people reach their vehicles, avoiding the crime scene.Pol...

Encroaching wildfires prompt North Carolina and Tennessee campgrounds to evacuate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:18 GMT

PINNACLE, N.C. (AP) — Wildfires have prompted campgrounds in North Carolina and Tennessee to evacuate starting Sunday while firefighters prepared for high winds and low humidity on Monday, though officials hoped for some help from expected rain.The National Weather Service’s office in Morristown, Tennessee, office issued a red flag warning into Tuesday in the East Tennessee mountains and southwest North Carolina, with winds between 25 and 50 mph Monday afternoon, increasing to 40 to 70 mph on Monday night with 80 mph gusts possible in some places. In North Carolina, a youth camp and about a dozen homes were evacuated Sunday evening as the fire spread in the Sauratown Mountains in Stokes County, said Jimmy Holt, a ranger with the N.C. Forest Service, on Monday. About 50 children were safely evacuated from the Mountain Top Youth Camp and residents of about 12 threatened homes were advised to evacuate as the fire spread, Holt said. No injuries or damage to structures have been re...

2024 presidential general election debates are planned for September and October in 3 college towns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:18 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three debates for next year’s presidential general election are set to be held in college towns in Texas, Virginia and Utah between Sept. 16 and Oct. 9, with the lone vice presidential debate happening in between in Pennsylvania — though it remains to be seen whether the Republican nominee will participate. The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announced Monday that presidential candidates will first be scheduled to meet Sept. 16 at Texas State University in San Marcos, south of Austin. The vice presidential debate is scheduled nine days later at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Presidential debates planned for Virginia State University in Petersburg on Oct. 1, and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Oct. 9, round out the schedule ahead of Nov. 5’s Election Day. “The United States’ general election debates, watched live worldwide, are a model for many other countries: the opportunity to hear and see leading candidates addr...

Saskatchewan squabbles with Ottawa over pavilion presentations at COP28 in Dubai

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:18 GMT

REGINA — Saskatchewan is squabbling again with Ottawa — this time over an event space at a climate conference in Dubai. The province says because Ottawa rejected most of its proposals, it decided to pull out of participating in the federal Liberal government’s pavilion at the COP28 conference, set for later this month.The province then decided to purchase its own pavilion for $765,000.Jim Reiter, the provincial energy minister, said last week the federal government accepted a proposal from Saskatchewan to have a reception at Ottawa’s pavilion. However, he said Ottawa offered the province 45 minutes for the reception. It also rejected the province’s nine other proposals, which he said included panels led by industry leaders.   Reiter said there are 40 Saskatchewan companies and organizations accompanying Premier Scott Moe and four other government staff on the trip. He said Saskatchewan wants to showcase the companies’ sustainability efforts. “We want to...

Former Blue Jay José Bautista on MLB’s 2024 Hall of Fame ballot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:18 GMT

Longtime Toronto Blue Jays outfielder José Bautista has made baseball’s 2024 Hall of Fame ballot.Bautista was one of 28 players announced on the ballot, including former Blue Jays starting pitcher Mark Buehrle and infielder José Reyes. It’s Bautista’s first year of eligibility.The 43-year-old played 10 seasons in Toronto, emerging as one of baseball’s best sluggers while North of the Border. He ranks among the top five in several Blue Jays all-time categories, including home runs (288), RBIs (766), walks (803), and games played (1,235). He also ranks first among Blue Jays position players in Wins Above Replacement (WAR), with 38.3 accrued during his tenure.During his time in Toronto, Bautista was a six-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger. He had 288 homers with the Blue Jays, including a major league-leading 54 in 2010 and 43 in 2011. The 54 home runs he slugged in 2010 are a single-season Blue Jays record, as is the 8.4 WAR he posted in 2011. Relate...

Congolese businessman Katumbi launches his presidential campaign to challenge Tshisekedi

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:18 GMT

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congolese businessman and opposition leader Moise Katumbi launched his presidential campaign on Monday, five years after the regime in power at the time blocked him from running.Katumbi’s rally in the city of Kisangani came a day after his two main competitors, President Felix Tshisekedi and opposition figure Martin Fayulu, started their campaigns ahead of the Dec. 20 vote.Katumbi criticized Tshisekedi’s record in the country’s volatile east, where the army has been battling M23 rebels and other armed groups.“Tshisekedi has recruited foreign mercenaries instead of increasing the salaries of the military and police to defend territorial integrity,” Katumbi told his supporters.Katumbi, the former governor of Katanga province, also rebuffed Tshisekedi’s insinuations Sunday that unspecified opposition candidates backed Rwanda. The neighboring country has been accused of funding and arming the M23 rebels, which its government denies.Represen...

Concerns emerge over NextStar’s plans to hire foreign workers for battery plant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:18 GMT

WINDSOR, Ont. — Concerns are rising over plans by NextStar Energy Inc. to bring in foreign workers to help build a battery plant in Windsor, Ont., that is being supported by an expected $15 billion in public funding.Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Monday that he is pushing for a full inquiry into the issue, and wants a commitment that no public funding will go to foreign workers. It’s not clear how many workers NextStar Energy, a joint venture between automaker Stellantis and South Korea’s LG, plans to bring from outside Canada. NextStar Energy chief executive Danies Lee says in a statement that the company is committed to hiring Canadians to fill more than 2,500 full-time jobs at the battery plant, and engage with up to 2,300 more local tradespeople to help with construction and installation.However, he says the installation phase of the project also requires temporary specialized global supplier staff, who have proprietary knowledge and specialized ex...