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Rain hasn’t quelled Canadian wildfires, and more smoky haze is on the way, officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:13 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian wildfires will send worsening smoky air across the country and neighboring United States in coming days after recent heavy rains in Quebec missed the places where the fires are most active, officials said Wednesday.Smoke from the wildfires has lowered curtains of haze on broad swaths of Canada and the United States, pushing into southern Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, and moving into parts of West Virginia. Canadian officials say it is the nation’s worst wildfire season ever and they expect air quality to remain a concern through the summer, as long as the fires continue. It started early on drier-than-usual ground and accelerated very quickly, exhausting firefighting resources across the country, fire and environmental officials said.Environment and Climate Change Canada Meteorologist Steven Flisfeder said smoke will drift across Quebec and Ontario over the next few days, and that air quality will deteriorate as a result.“As long as the fires are burning and th...

Castellanos homers, Sosa and Harrison go deep as Phillies beat Cubs 8-5

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:13 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Nick Castellanos homered, Edmundo Sosa and Josh Harrison also went deep, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 8-5 on Wednesday night.Castellanos hit a three-run homer in the second off Drew Smyly (7-5) after Sosa launched a two-run shot earlier in the inning. Castellanos also hustled out an RBI double and scored in a two-run fourth.Harrison added a solo homer in the fifth off Hayden Wesneski to make it 8-2, helping Philadelphia overcome a shaky start by Aaron Nola (7-5) to win for the 17th time in 22 games. The Phillies also won their eighth straight road game, matching their longest streak since 2011.Nola allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings, after going at least six innings in 13 straight starts.Chicago has lost three straight since winning nine of 10. Smyly lasted just 3 2/3 innings and matched season highs by allowing seven runs and nine hits.Jared Young hit his first career homer in his first at-bat this season when he connected in the ...

Garrett and Segura lead the Marlins past the Red Sox, 6-2

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:13 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Jean Segura hit a two-run single in a three-run sixth inning and the Miami Marlins beat the Boston Red Sox 6-2 on Wednesday night after a rain delay.Braxton Garrett (4-2) pitched five innings for the victory, allowing a run on three hits and a walk. The Marlins have won eight of his last nine starts, the last six in a row. A.J. Puk closed for his 12th save.Garrett Cooper opened the second inning with a home run for Boston against Kaleb Ort. Rafael Devers tied it in the fourth with his 19th homer, a two-out shot.After back-to-back, one-out walks from Boston’s Nick Pivetta (4-5) to Jorge Soler and Bryan De La Cruz and a 1-2 count on Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the sixth, the game was delayed for 1 hour, 13 minutes because of rain.When play resumed, Josh Winckowski replaced Pivetta. Winckowski struck out Chisholm before walking Garrett Cooper and unleashing a wild pitch with Segura at the plate, allowing Soler to score. Segura’s infield single scored De La Cruz and C...

Rebuilding Flyers willing to be patient with top pick Matvei Michkov of Russia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:13 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Philadelphia Flyers are in rebuilding mode, so that makes waiting for Matvei Michkov to finish his commitment in Russia a bit easier.The Flyers answered perhaps the biggest question coming into Wednesday night’s NHL draft by taking the Russian right winger at No. 7 overall.Michkov wasn’t the first Russian selected. That was defenseman Dmitriy Simashev at No. 6 by Arizona despite Michkov being considered possibly the best Russian prospect since Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin in 2005. Now the Flyers have no choice but to be patient after the team drafted a Russian in the first round for the third time in its history.“We can’t wait to have that answer ourselves,” general manager Daniel Briere said of exactly when Michkov will play for Philadelphia. “It is what it is. We know he has got a contract for three more seasons. But for us we just felt after watching him play and after meeting him, we just felt it’s a talent that we cannot pa...

Family fears accused murderer could post bond after court ruling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:13 GMT

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — A recent court from the Colorado Supreme Court has a family in Arapahoe County very worried.The Bloch family said the person who killed their loved one could be out on bond on Thursday.David Lechner was arrested back in March in the shooting death of his wife, Tracy. Tracy's brother, Ben Bloch, talked about his sister and her life, he also talked about the plan he has to make to keep his family safe if Tracy's husband posts bond. 16-year-old accused of murdering girlfriend Lechner's bond hearing is Thursday at an Arapahoe County courthouse, and Bloch said he will be there."She suffered an unjust murder by David Lechner, leaving my 9- and 7-year-old niece and nephew without parents," Bloch said.The justice system must work through its process, but Bloch is convinced of who killed his sister and the danger that person poses to his family."It's just not right for somebody who's killed somebody to be allowed back into the community with an anklet, with ...

Pop-up encampment at day shelter angers neighbors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:13 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — What some are calling a growing homeless encampment outside of a Denver shelter and resource center has some residents concerned and the center’s staff taking action to ensure everyone who needs assistance has safe access. The Denver metro area now has more than 7,000 people living on the streets, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mystery gas sickens 17 at Colorado campground Residents near The Gathering Place, located near High Street and Colfax Avenue, say a makeshift encampment is growing outside of the facility. "We’re out picking up trash, human feces on a regular basis," Rachel Schwab said. FOX31 found loitering in the alley at the back of the building as well. “There’s drug activity, there are a lot of gunshots," Lynese Hill said.Day shelter helps tens of thousandsThe Gathering Place is a day shelter that offers support and empowerment to women, transgender and non-binary individuals and children experiencing poverty and home...

Could the short-term rental decline affect Denver's housing market?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:13 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — A lag in the short-term rental market could force some Airbnb owners to sell. It's all part of the slowdown in post-pandemic travel, and it's happening across the country. Denver metro housing prices rising toward last year’s peak Kelly Moye, with the Colorado Association of Realtors, has spent 32 years in the business. Right now, she said the biggest challenge is inventory."We have way more buyer demand than we do listings to sell them," Moye said. But with the downturn in the short-term rental market, specifically with Airbnb renters, more houses could hit the market."I don’t really think there’s any big surprise as we’re all getting back to travel that the short-term rentals are not going to be quite as profitable as they were before," Moye said.4 Colorado counties among top short-term rental declinesReventure Consulting recently published data from AllTheRooms showing the top 25 Airbnb rental declines by county. Four of them were in Colorado: Larimer,...

Inside Biden’s dramatic backchannel to Russia as a near-coup unfolded

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:13 GMT

Last weekend, as President Joe Biden and top national security aides watched a dramatic — and ultimately, short lived — coup attempt play out in Russia, officials decided they needed to communicate directly with the Kremlin.Using a regular diplomatic channel, administration officials told counterparts inside President Vladimir Putin’s suddenly wobbly government that the White House viewed the mutiny led by the Wagner Group’s Yevgeny Prigozhin as an internal Russian matter. They would not be making any changes to U.S. or NATO troop positions. There was no need, the U.S. side made clear, for any direct talks between Biden and Putin or other high-ranking officials.“Everything was done to ensure that Russia didn’t see an American hand in all this,” said Ian Bremmer, the president of the Eurasia Group who first wrote about the backchannel conversation in his weekly client newsletter. “From a U.S. perspective, that was actually quite useful, being able to communicate to Moscow that Americ...

Italian hospitals imported substandard cancer drug not approved in EU

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:13 GMT

At least 16 hospitals in Italy have been treating cancer patients with a poor-quality imported drug that is not approved for use in the EU, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) and POLITICO have found. Gaps in national and EU medicines regulations have allowed Italian hospitals to legally request shipments of Celginase — a low-cost cancer medicine shown to be substandard — even when better alternatives have been available. Neither Italy’s drugs regulator nor the country’s ministry of health are responsible for checking the quality, efficacy or safety of this drug before allowing it into Italian hospitals. Nor does it fall within the remit of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Yet, hundreds of vials of the drug have arrived from India over the last seven years. It is unknown how many cancer patients could have experienced adverse side effects or lower chances of remission as a result. Many vials still sit on hospital shelves today.Celginase is a brand of asp...

Domingo German makes history, throws Yankees’ fourth perfect game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:13 GMT

Fresh off two of the worst starts of his career, Domingo German delivered the definitive game of his life.The right-hander faced the minimum on Wednesday, twirling the fourth perfect game in Yankees history in an 11-0 win over the lowly A’s. German did so with dazzling efficiency, requiring just 99 pitches while striking out nine in Oakland.German, mourning the recent death of an uncle, had to overcome two lengthy delays to achieve perfection, as the Yankees’ six-run fifth took 24 minutes and forced German to stay loose in the bullpen. More stoppage occurred in the seventh when A’s reliever Yacksel Rios left with an injury.But German, leaning heavily on his heater, a devastating curveball and Kyle Higashioka’s brilliant game-calling behind the plate, waited Oakland out and etched his name into the history books. Only 23 other men have been perfect, including the Yankees’ David Cone in 1999, David Wells in 1998 and Don Larsen in the 1956 World Series.The...