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Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach reopened to public

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:28:25 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach has been reopened after about a weeklong closure, according to City of San Diego officials.The temporary closure began on May 4 as a safety precaution, because the wooden structure appeared to have some damage in the western end of the boardwalk owned by the city. City officials believed the damage was sustained during the winter storms. 6 places to go kayaking in San Diego At the beginning of the closure, the city told FOX 5 that it had hired a consultant, Moffatt & Nichol, to inspect the current condition of Crystal Pier. In a tweet Saturday, city officials said that the consultant's inspection determined that the pier did sustain minor damage, but it remains safe for public use.The city has not confirmed if repairs are going to be made to the pier at this time or whether there will be additional closures in the future for any maintenance work.

Firefighters rescue dog from house fire; nine residents displaced

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:28:25 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Firefighters resuscitated a dog after a residential fire broke out Saturday night, leaving nine people displaced, according to San Diego Fire-Rescue.Crews were dispatched to the scene in the 6600 block of Skyline Drive in Encanto just after 4 p.m. The fire was in a two-story residence, according to SDFD. When fire crews arrived, light smoke showing from the front of the home.Multiple rooms were in flames, but crews were able to confine it to the second floor living room. The room sustained significant damage, according to fire officials.Firefighters rescued one resident from the second floor of the home, as well as a dog. All other occupants were able to get out of the building on their own, SDFD said. Man killed in City Heights shooting, arrest made None of the residents or firefighters were injured in the blaze. The dog, however, had to be resuscitated by fire crews using a canine oxygen mask. They were taken to a veterinary hospital for further treatment. The curre...

Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles graduates from college, fulfills promise to late mother

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:28:25 GMT

EMMITSBURG, Md. (AP) — Todd Bowles kept a promise to his late mother and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach is now a college graduate.The 59-year-old Bowles walked across the stage at Mount St. Mary’s University on Saturday to receive his diploma after earning a Bachelor of Science degree in youth and community development.Bowles missed the second day of the Buccaneers’ rookie camp to attend the ceremony, knowing his mother Joan would be proud of him for completing his degree 37 years after he left Temple to begin his playing career in the NFL.“My mother never said anything, she just went with it and she let me go ahead and live my life,” Bowles said while he addressed the graduating class. “She passed in 2009 and the only thing she asked me was to make sure I got my degree.“I stuck with it and here I am at 59. You’re never too old to stop learning. You stop learning and you get old. You get old when you stop learning. So I say to you, Class of 2023 — the future is yours, take it,...

Bangladesh, Myanmar bracing as Cyclone Mocha set to make landfall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:28:25 GMT

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh and Myanmar were bracing Sunday as an extremely severe cyclone was set to hit their coastal areas, and authorities told thousands of people in both countries to seek shelter.U.N. agencies and aid workers prepositioned tons of dry food and dozens of ambulances with mobile medical teams in sprawling refugee camps in Bangladesh with more than 1 million Rohingya who fled persecution in Myanmar.The camps at Cox’s Bazar are in the path of Cyclone Mocha, which was closing in on the coast of southeastern Bangladesh and Myanmar with wind speeds of up to 220 kilometers (135 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 240 kph (150 mph), the Indian Meteorological Department said late Saturday. It’s projected to make landfall between Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh and Kyaukpyu in Myanmar.Bangladesh, with more than 160 million people, has prepared more than 1,500 cyclone shelters. The navy said it’s keeping ready 21 ships, maritime patrol aircraft and helic...

Cannes Film Festival readies a blockbuster edition, with Indy, ‘Flower Moon,’ Depp and more

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:28:25 GMT

The Cannes Film Festival, which will kick off Tuesday, is such a colossal extravaganza that taking measure of its ups and downs is notoriously difficult. It’s a showcase of the world’s best cinema. It’s a red-carpet spectacular. It’s a French Riviera hive of dealmaking.But by at least some metrics, Cannes — following a canceled 2020 festival, a much-diminished 2021 edition and a triumphant 2022 return — is finally all the way back.“Let’s just say it’s gotten very hard to get restaurant reservations again,” says Christine Vachon, the veteran producer and longtime collaborator of Todd Haynes.When the 76th Cannes Film Festival opens Tuesday with the premiere of “Jeanne du Barry,” a historical drama by Maïwenn starring Johnny Depp, the gleaming Cote d’Azur pageant can feel confident that it has weathered the storms of the pandemic and the perceived threat of streaming. (Netflix and Cannes remain at an impasse.)Last year’s festival, a banner one by most judgments, produced three Oscar be...

Turkey’s elections for presidency, parliament set to begin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:28:25 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Voters in Turkey are heading to the polls on Sunday for pivotal parliamentary and presidential elections that are expected to be tightly contested and could be the biggest challenge Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces in his two decades in power.The vote will either grant the increasingly authoritarian Erdogan a new five-year term in office or set the NATO-member country on what his principal opponent calls a more democratic path.For the first time in his 20 years in office, opinion polls indicate that the populist Erdogan, 69, is entering a race trailing behind an opponent. Opinion surveys have given a slight lead to Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the 74-year-old leader of the center-left, pro-secular Republican People’s Party, or CHP, and the joint candidate of a united opposition alliance. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes, the presidential race will go to a run-off on May 28.More than 64 million people, including 3.4 million overseas voters,...

A year after mass shooting at Buffalo supermarket, bells to toll for victims

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:28:25 GMT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The city of Buffalo will pause Sunday to mark the passing of one year since a gunman killed 10 people and injured three others in a racist attack that targeted Black people at a city supermarket.A moment of silence followed by the chiming of church bells at 2:28 p.m. will honor victims of the massacre at the Tops Friendly Market on May 14, 2022. “The racially motivated mass shooting shook our community to its core. It was the day the unthinkable happened,” Mayor Byron Brown said in announcing plans for the commemoration, to be held at the now-reopened supermarket.Earlier in the week, panelists discussed ways to combat racism and social media radicalization and residents were invited to reflect at an outdoor community gathering.In the year since the shooting, relatives of the victims have spoken before Congress about white supremacy and gun reform and organized events to address food insecurity that worsened when the neighborhood’s only grocery store was inaccess...

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy arrives in Berlin to meet German leaders, discuss arms deliveries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:28:25 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Berlin early Sunday for talks with German leaders about further arms deliveries to help his country fend off the Russian invasion and rebuild what’s been destroyed by more than a year of devastating conflict.A Luftwaffe jet flew Zelenskyy to the German capital from Rome, where he had met Saturday with Pope Francis and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni.On the eve of his arrival — which took place amid tight security — the German government announced a new package of military aid for Ukraine with aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.“Already in Berlin. Weapons. Powerful package. Air defense. Reconstruction. EU. NATO. Security,” Zelenskyy tweeted Sunday, in an apparent reference to the key priorities of his trip.After initially hesitating to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons, Germany has become one of the biggest suppliers of arms to Ukraine, includ...

NYC converts hotels to shelters as pressure mounts to accommodate asylum seekers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:28:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The historic Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan shuttered three years ago, but it will soon be bustling again — reopening to accommodate an anticipated influx of asylum seekers just as other New York City hotels are being converted to emergency shelters.Mayor Eric Adams announced Saturday that the city will use the Roosevelt to eventually provide as many as 1,000 rooms for migrants who are expected to arrive in coming weeks because of the expiration of pandemic-era rules, known collectively as Title 42, that had allowed federal officials to turn away asylum seekers from the U.S. border with Mexico.Across the city, hotels like the Roosevelt that served tourists just a few years ago are being transformed into emergency shelters, many of them in prime locations within walking distance from Times Square, the World Trade Center memorial site and the Empire State Building. A legal mandate requires the city to provide shelter to anyone who needs it.Even so, Adams says the...

Off-grid solar brings light, time and income to remotest villages

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:28:25 GMT

LAINDEHA, Indonesia (AP) — As Tamar Ana Jawa wove a red sarong in the fading sunlight, her neighbor switched on a light bulb dangling from the sloping tin roof. It was just one bulb powered by a small solar panel, but in this remote village that means a lot. In some of the world’s most remote places, off-grid solar systems are bringing villagers like Jawa more hours in the day, more money and more social gatherings.Before electricity came to the village a bit less than two years ago, the day ended when the sun went down. Villagers in Laindeha, on the island of Sumba in eastern Indonesia, would set aside the mats they were weaving or coffee they were sorting to sell at the market as the light faded. A few families who could afford them would start noisy generators that rumbled into the night, emitting plumes of smoke. Some people wired lightbulbs to old car batteries, which would quickly die or burn out appliances, as they had no regulator. Children sometimes studied by makeshi...