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Washington's legal pot farms get back to work after pesticide concerns halted operations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:54 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — A big mound of fresh dirt sits at Terry Taylor's marijuana farm in the high desert of north-central Washington state. Each hole for a new plant gets filled with the clean soil.Large swaths of recently installed landscape fabric cover the ground, and soon the dirt roads on his property will be covered in crushed rock to keep contaminated dust from covering the crops.Taylor's pot farm is one of several getting back to business after state regulators halted their operations in April, citing product testing that turned up unacceptable levels of chemicals related to DDT, a synthetic pesticide banned half a century ago. The affected growers haven't used the pesticide themselves, but they are located on a 5-mile (8-kilometer) stretch of former fruit orchards along the Okanogan River where it was applied heavily and remains in the soil.The Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board announced last week it had lifted the holds on the businesses, which are now taking steps with state ...

FDA approves pricy new treatment for Alzheimer's: What you need to know

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:54 GMT

(WGN Radio) – A new drug that shows promising results of slowing memory decline recently received the Food and Drug Administration's stamp of approval – but will anyone be able to afford it?The FDA endorsed the IV drug, Leqembi, for patients with mild dementia and other symptoms caused by early Alzheimer's disease. It works by clearing a sticky brain plaque linked to the disease, and it’s the first medicine that’s been convincingly shown to modestly slow the cognitive decline caused by Alzheimer's.But Leqembi doesn't come cheap. It is priced at about $26,500 for a year’s supply of IVs every two weeks."If we had to pay out of pocket, you'd certainly have to have substantial funds to do this," said Dr. Kevin Most, chief medical officer at Northwestern Central DuPage Hospital, in an interview with WGN Radio. It was a popular national monument, until it was robbed to extinction But the recent FDA approval paves the way for Medicare and other insurers to cover the drug. Medicare ...

What to know about aspartame following the WHO's assessment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:54 GMT

(The Hill) - The World Health Organization's (WHO) new assessment of the safety of the common artificial sweetener aspartame has ignited a debate over just what consumers should do.Two groups tied to the WHO — the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) — issued somewhat diverging conclusions on Thursday in regard to aspartame, an extremely popular additive most often associated with diet foods.IARC determined that the sweetener was “possibly carcinogenic,” while JECFA said it found “no convincing evidence from experimental animal or human data that aspartame has adverse effects after ingestion.”The studies did not produce a change in the recommended daily intake of aspartame for humans. California couple charged nearly $30K for one Uber ride A food safety official for the WHO said that the consumption of aspartame is “not a major concern at the doses which are commonly used.”The amount of aspartame that was indic...

Are Airbnbs allowed to have hidden cameras? How to know if someone is watching

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:54 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Someone might be keeping an eye on you as you check into your next vacation rental. The vacation rental property allows for security cameras in many parts of a home or apartment that's rented out to guests. But if you're going to be watched, you should know about it. Airbnb doesn't allow for hidden cameras or any other types of concealed recording devices. It does allow hosts to install security cameras in or around the property – as long as they're not in private areas like bedrooms or bathrooms, and as long as they are properly disclosed. Vrbo, another vacation rental platform, has even stricter rules: no cameras or other surveillance devices anywhere inside a property. They are permitted in outdoor areas, if disclosed. Are your old CDs worth anything to collectors? Even though both companies prohibit hosts from installing hidden cameras, claims of discovered recording devices still occasionally go viral on social media. Last year, a lawsuit was filed in Texas,...

Powerball jackpot rolls to $900M: When's the next drawing?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:54 GMT

(NEXSTAR) - The Powerball jackpot has rolled yet again after no ticket matched the six winning numbers drawn Saturday, pushing the grand prize to an estimated $900 million. The current jackpot, with an estimated cash value of $465.1 million, has been growing since mid-April, meaning it has gone 37 consecutive drawings without a winner. Saturday’s Powerball numbers were 2, 9, 43, 55, 57, and red Powerball 18, with a multiplier of 2X. Two tickets in Texas and another in Colorado matched all five white balls, winning $1 million prizes, according to Powerball.  Is it possible to increase your Powerball jackpot odds? As it stands, the estimated $900 million jackpot ranks as the third-largest in game history, and as the seventh-largest lottery prize on record in the U.S. In order to climb any higher on either record list, the jackpot would need to at least surpass $1 billion, which it could do ahead of the next drawing (here’s how).Here are the 10 largest Powerball and Me...

4 killed in Georgia shooting, suspect at large: authorities

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:54 GMT

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Authorities in Georgia hunted Saturday for a man who remained at large hours after he was suspected of gunning down three men and a woman in a suburban neighborhood south of Atlanta.Andre Longmore, 40, is believed to be armed and dangerous, Hampton Police Chief James Turner said during a news conference. The shootings happened late Saturday morning in a subdivision in Hampton, a city of roughly 8,500 people.Officials released few details about the killings. Turner said detectives were investigating at least four crime scenes near one another in the same neighborhood. He said Longmore is a Hampton resident, but declined to discuss a possible motive.The suspect remained at large more than five hours after the killings, and authorities vowed to keep searching until he was in custody.“We’ve done an exhaustive search in the general area and we’re now widening that a little bit,” Turner told reporters.Investigators were also on the lookout for a Black GMC Acadia SUV th...

Texas lawmaker vows to try again to make AC for renters mandatory

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:54 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – It’s not as if Jake Salinas was dialing down the digits on his thermostat with reckless abandon.A few weeks ago, his air conditioning was set to, what he considers, a conservative 76 degrees.Austin Resident Jake Salinas explains how the AC in his apartment wasn't cooling properly (KXAN Photo/Chris Nelson)“It started at 78 and then eventually would go to 81 and 82,” Salinas said. “That felt off, obviously.” The air was blowing, he said, but the AC was not cooling properly. Salinas said he notified his complex and the issue was fixed the next day. Still, he couldn’t help but tweet about what he dubbed a "fun fact" about his situation: how he’d spent several months working on a bill to mandate working air conditioning and now his own AC wasn’t working well. How to cool your Texas home without an AC Working on bills is part of Salinas’ job as the legislative director for Texas Rep. Sheryl Cole, D-Austin.“He receives the constituent complaints a lot of times for my offi...

Rapidly spreading ‘Rabbit Fire’ scorches over 7,500 acres in Riverside County 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:54 GMT

The “Rabbit Fire” that broke out on Friday night is continuing to spread and force evacuations near Beaumont. According to fire officials, the blaze has torched 7,600 acres and remains just 5 percent contained. Mountainsides near the 79 Freeway were seen charred by the wildfires as early as 6 a.m. Sunday morning. The two biggest challenges firefighters face are accessing the remote area that the fire is spreading through and mitigating the effects of the large amounts of dry brush in the area, but fighting the blaze at night is proving to be a key tactic in extinguishing it. “As the earth cools down, the wind will go in the reverse direction of where it was coming to,” said Cal Fire Deputy Chief Lucas Spelman. “In this area we’ve been having fires over and over the last few weeks because of the heat and how dry it is.” The “Rabbit Fire” that broke out on Friday night is continuing to spread and force evacuations near Beaumont. (KTLA)Firefighters are responding to a wildfir...

Sunnyvale’s e-scooter program gets dozens of complaints, thousands of rides

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:54 GMT

Bird E-scootersEight months into Sunnyvale’s E-scooter Share Pilot Program, the city had received 59 complaints about the electronic devices provided by Bird.The majority of complaints were related to damaged e-scooters. A report from the city manager’s office indicated that staff had not needed to impound any e-scooters due to unaddressed safety problems or hazards.Bird launched a one-year e-scooter share pilot program in Sunnyvale last October to provide a first-/last-mile transportation option. Between February and May, the average daily number of e-scooters within Sunnyvale city limits was 78. They were generally stationed near businesses, parks, bus stops and major transit stops.“Since the start of the service, Bird e-scooters have been used for 6,323 rides,” the report read.For more information, visit https://www.sunnyvale.ca.gov/homes-streets-and-property/transportation-and-traffic-safety/e-scooter-share.Remote meeting accessSanta Clara County residents will soon be able to p...

Swarm of Milpitas students take home awards from National Bees

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:54 GMT

A swarm of Sinnott Elementary School students excelled at the 2023 International Academic Competitions (IAC) National Bees competitions in Arlington, Virginia last month​.Sixth-grader Tejus Karadi placed third in both the Latin American History National Championship exam and the American Geography National Championship exam and eighth in the history bee. Fellow Sinnott sixth-grader Stavya Dangaria secured a second-place finish at the Science Bee Nationals.Stavya finished first and Tejus placed third at the 2023 IAC Academic Bee, a medley of all subjects including but not limited to science, history, geography, literature and current events.Third-grader Tara Karadi, the youngest of the Sinnott team to qualify for the playoffs, competed in geography and science bees, reaching the quarterfinals in both disciplines. Fifth-grader Shreya Ram and sixth-grader Parth Baheti also made it to quarterfinals of the science bee, while sixth-grader Kashvi Agarwal secured fourth place.Sixth-grader J...