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Historic Mexico City rock and counterculture hub closes

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:10:33 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A line of people dressed in black, flannels and piercings wound in front of a two-story building on one of Mexico City’s main avenues. Graffiti reading “Alicia” was painted above their heads. Inside, a young man frantically scrolled over a list of names and prepared the entry hand stamp. It could have been any nightclub on a Friday night in the bustling city, but the whole line knew it was their last chance to set foot in what had become an iconic music venue and counterculture hub in the Mexican capital.After 27 years, Multiforo Cultural Alicia closed its doors forever on March 12. For many, it marked the end of an era and signaled gentrification’s toll on the city in recent years. “Nobody came at the beginning. It was a tiny place, uncomfortable, very punk,” recalled Ignacio Pineda, 60, the founder of the Alicia. “But I didn’t want a trendy bar. I wanted a place for the people.”For decades, Mexico’s music scene was suffocated by its long-ruling Revolutiona...

Are tourists killing off Colorado's ground squirrels?

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:10:33 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — According to Colorado State University researchers, yes, tourists are killing off ground squirrels. A new report claims Colorado's population boom and tourism push into the Rocky Mountain National Park killed off ground squirrels, particularly females. The study was done in the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, part of the Warner College of Natural Resources at CSU.The study used 31 years' worth of data about golden-mantled ground squirrels and traffic volume along County Road 317 in Gunnison County.On average, about 5% of the squirrel population was road-killed each year. The roadkill rates rose during tourist seasons, which researchers tie to the number of visitors to a nearby destination.Females were road-killed in higher numbers. Man sentenced for sexually assaulting girlfriend’s daughter "Contrary to prediction, adult females were the demographic group most affected: nearly twice the proportion of adult females versus adult males died in r...

Graphic version of Anne Frank book removed by Florida school

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:10:33 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A high school along Florida’s Atlantic Coast has removed a graphic novel based on the diary of Anne Frank after a leader of a conservative advocacy group challenged it, claiming it minimized the Holocaust.“Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation” was removed from a library at Vero Beach High School after a leader of Moms for Liberty in Indian River County raised an objection that it minimized the Holocaust. The book at one point shows the protagonist walking among female nude statues.The school’s principal agreed with the objection, and the book was removed last month.Under the school district’s policy, if anyone disagrees with the book’s removal, the decision can be appealed to a districtwide committee. But no one has challenged the removal, and there was no record of the book ever being checked out, Cristen Maddux, a spokeswoman for the School District of Indian River County, said Monday.Vero Beach is located 105 miles (169 kilometer...

US in crisis mode with allies after Ukraine intel leak

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:10:33 GMT

Senior U.S. officials are racing to placate frustrated and confused allies from Europe to the Middle East to Kyiv following the leak of highly classified information about the war in Ukraine and other global issues.After the news of the leak broke last week, senior intelligence, State Department and Pentagon officials reached out to their counterparts to quell worries about the publishing of the intel, according to four officials — an American, two European and one Five Eyes member — familiar with those conversations.One said that members of the Five Eyes — the intelligence consortium of the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand — have asked for briefings from Washington but have yet to receive a substantive response. Inquiries have been sent separately to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation.Meanwhile, officials in London, Brussels, Berlin, Dubai and Kyiv questioned Washington...

Pols Celebrate New JetBlue Routes From Worcester To Florida

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:10:33 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey and other Bay State elected officials are celebrating new air service plans that will make it easier for people to get to and from Florida from central Massachusetts. JetBlue and the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Worcester Regional Airport, announced plans Monday for new nonstop flights to Orlando and Fort Myers. The daily year-round service to Orlando International Airport is scheduled to launch June 15 and winter seasonal service to Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers is expected to start on Jan. 4, 2024. The Fort Myers route will initially launch with twice-weekly service, and will increase to daily service starting in mid-February through the end of spring training for the Boston Red Sox, who have their pre-season base in Fort Myers. Fort Myers is a new route for JetBlue out of Worcester, while the airline is bringing back service to Orlando from Worcester. “We are proud to introduce even more options to connect our Massachuse...

Police: 4 killed in shooting at downtown Louisville bank

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:10:33 GMT

By DYLAN LOVAN and CLAIRE GALOFARO (Associated Press)LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A shooter at a bank in downtown Louisville killed at least four people — including two friends of the governor — and wounded at least nine others Monday, authorities said. The suspect also was dead.The shooting, the 15th mass killing in the country this year, comes just two weeks after a former student killed three children and three adults at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, about 160 miles (260 kilometers) to the south. That state’s governor and his wife also had friends killed in that shooting. Police in Louisville arrived as gunshots were still being fired inside Old National Bank and exchanged fire with the shooter, Louisville Metro Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said at a news conference. It wasn’t clear whether the shooter killed himself or was shot by officers.“We believe this is a lone gunman involved in this that did have a con...

Stocks on Wall Street mixed amid expectations for rate hike

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:10:33 GMT

By STAN CHOE (AP Business Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks on Wall Street are mixed in their first trading after a report heightened speculation the Federal Reserve may tap the brakes a little harder on financial markets and the economy. The S&P 500 was 0.2% lower in Monday afternoon trading. It did not trade on Friday, when data showing a resilient U.S. jobs market heightened expectations the Fed would hike interest rates again at its next meeting. Technology stocks were falling more than the rest of the market, which helped drag the Nasdaq composite to a loss of 0.4%, as of 1:15 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was steadier, and it was up 63 points, or 0.2%, at 33,549. Higher rates tend to hit tech and other high-growth stocks the hardest, and Apple and Microsoft were two of the heaviest drags on the S&P 500. Each fell at least 1.1%. Tesla also dropped 1.3% after it cut prices on its entire U.S. model lineup for the third time this year. It’s ...

Jonathan Isaac expects to be ready for start of Magic’s 2023-24 season

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:10:33 GMT

Jonathan Isaac expects to be ready for the start of the Orlando Magic’s 2023-24 season, he told the Orlando Sentinel.Isaac confirmed this expectation when speaking with reporters during the Magic’s exit interviews Monday.His 2022-23 was cut short less than two months after making his long-awaited comeback. Isaac had season-ending surgery on March 3 to repair a torn left adductor muscle (inner thigh).He was sidelined from August 2020 until Jan. 11 after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on Aug. 2, 2020, during the league’s restart in its Disney World bubble.Isaac had surgery on the right hamstring last March while rehabbing from the left knee injury.He made his return with the Magic’s G League affiliate, the Lakeland Magic, earlier this year and played three games for Lakeland before making his return to Orlando in the Jan. 23 win over the Boston Celtics.Isaac ended the season with averages of 5 points, 4 rebounds and ...

Chairwoman Vargas calls for Nathan Fletcher's immediate resignation

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:10:33 GMT

SAN DIEGO — San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Nora Vargas is holding a news conference Monday to announce the introduction of a resolution of no confidence on Supervisor Nathan Fletcher.The board will hold an emergency meeting Tuesday where they will vote to call on Fletcher to resign from his county position immediately.Fletcher has been accused of sexual assault and harassment in a lawsuit by a former Metropolitan Transit System employee.Vargas announced that she would provide details on the resolution of no confidence and the next step for the county moving forward at the Monday news conference.Fletcher previously announced that the effective date for his resignation would be May 15, after his medical leave from office.In a news release, Vargas said she supported Fletcher's resignation after he "personally admitted he had failed to hold the principles of the position and Office of the County Board of Supervisors."The full letter requesting the vote of no confidence can ...

British PM urges NIreland politicians to go back to work

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:10:33 GMT

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak praised the bravery of political leaders who struck the Good Friday peace accord 25 years ago Monday, as he urged Northern Ireland’s current politicians to return to work.While the peace deal largely brought an end to 30 years of hostilities, the Northern Ireland Assembly has been in limbo for more than a year since the main unionist party pulled out of the government to protest new post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland. Sunak discussed the importance of compromise in reaching the April 10, 1998 peace deal and called for redoubling efforts toward economic opportunity, prosperity, and stability. “It is a promise we must continue to fulfill,” he said. “So we must get on with the business of governance.”Sunak is set to greet U.S. President Joe Biden when he arrives Tuesday night in Belfast for a four-day visit to Northern Ireland and Ireland. The White House said Biden would mark the progress since the agreement was struck and unders...