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Phoenix’s record heat is killing off cactuses

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:00 GMT

(CNN) — At a botanical garden in Phoenix some cactuses can’t take the heat.Record-high temperatures in Arizona, combined with a lack of seasonal monsoons, have caused saguaro cactuses at the Desert Botanical Garden to become “highly stressed,” according to Chief Science Officer Kimberlie McCue. She said a saguaro can appear “fairly normal” or feel somewhat squishy before it suddenly collapses and reveals it has been rotting from the inside out due to heat-related stress.Every February, the Desert Botanical Garden takes inventory of its saguaro cactuses and assesses each one’s condition. McCue said since 2020, when record temperatures caused stress in many of the saguaros, she and her team have seen more of the garden’s cactuses die. Present-day heat records are sending some of those previously affected cactuses over the edge, causing them to lose limbs and even collapse.Wednesday night ended a record streak of 16 days above 90 degrees in Phoenix. The city is forecast to see temperat...

Fashion designer works with skin from invasive Everglades pythons to create custom designs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:00 GMT

Most of us know pythons as invasive reptiles harming the Everglades’ delicate ecosystem, but for one South Florida fashion designer, these snakes also make for some wild style. Karen Hensel has today’s 7 Spotlight. Plenty of people are scared of snakes. Elle Barbeito is not one of them.Elle Barbeito, fashion designer: “Burmese pythons, they are from Southeast Asia, and they’re a really beautiful snake, they really are. They grow really, really big.”Big snakes that cause big problems ravaging native wildlife in the Everglades.Elle Barbeito: “It’s a really intense environment.”And it’s where Elle discovered her artistic passion back in 2018.Elle Barbeito: “Because now my dad was hunting, so I was just going with him all the time, and just like, sitting in the back of the truck. I loved it. I just was like really obsessed with it.”Elle, a South Florida native who went to fashion school in New York, says she became disill...

Police searching apartment of Chicago man charged in man’s killing find woman dead in refrigerator

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:00 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Officers searching the apartment of a Chicago man accused of fatally stabbing a man on a restaurant’s roof discovered the body of a young woman in his refrigerator earlier this month, authorities said.Brandon Sanders, 33, has not been charged in the death of Iman Al-Sarraj, 18, whose beaten body was found in early July in a refrigerator at his apartment in Chicago’s West Ridge neighborhood.But he was arrested June 29 and charged with murder, robbery and burglary in the May killing of Rasim Katanic, a 69-year-old who was a Bosnian War refugee, WLS-TV reported.Prosecutors said surveillance footage shows Sanders climbing a stairwell on May 12 to a rooftop where Katanic was working on a cooler compressor atop Tahoora Sweets & Bakery. Katanic was later found stabbed to death on that roof.At his bail hearing, Sanders’ attorney said, “There are some issues with a mental state.” Sanders remains held without bail.Katanic’s daughter, Aida Sutardio, tol...

Moving Out!

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:00 GMT

Hot out there again this afternoon with most towns around 90 and when you factor in the humidity, it felt like the low to mid 90s. July doing July things. This summer hasn’t featured a lot of heat thus far and after one more hot day tomorrow, that may be it for the next week, possibly two! The reason for the heat exiting the region tomorrow will be a rather potent cool front working its way out of Canada tonight and into New England tomorrow…That front will ram into the afternoon heat and humidity across the region and pop showers and thunderstorms, primarily during the afternoon. Afternoon temps will generally finish between 85 and 90 degrees.Hottest locations are likely across SE MA as they will be farthest from the incoming cool front. In terms of the front and storm placement, here is a futurecast for 3pm Saturday…Storms will be present but isolated-scattered in nature with most of them across New York State and western-central New England. By 6pm here is what ...

Judge refuses to dismiss lawsuit against Disney’s efforts to neutralize governing district takeover

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:00 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A judge in Florida on Friday refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Gov. Ron DeSantis appointees against Disney’s efforts to neutralize the governor’s takeover of Disney World’s governing district.The judge in state court in Orlando denied Disney’s motion in the lawsuit that says the company wrongly stripped appointees of powers over design and construction at Disney World when it made agreements with predecessors, who were supporters.The case is one of two lawsuits stemming from the takeover, which was retaliation for the company’s public opposition to the so-called Don’t Say Gay legislation championed by DeSantis and Republican lawmakers. In the other lawsuit, in federal court in Tallahassee, Disney says DeSantis violated the company’s free speech rights.The governor has touted his yearlong feud with Disney in his run for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, often accusing the entertainment giant of being too “woke.” Disney has accused the govern...

Home Showcase: New in West Newbury

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:00 GMT

West Newbury has a lot going for it. Between easy access to water and a boat launch, miles and miles of trails, and a huge investment into new school buildings, it’s become the go-to homestead for growing families.Fitting right in with the town’s history-meets-modernity vibe, 64 Bridge Street is a modern farmhouse with familiar good looks plus all the bells and whistles of a new construction.Custom built in 2023, the 2,800 square-foot home sits on 1.41 acres, almost completely surrounded by mature trees, offering privacy and room to roam. Taking advantage of its idyllic setting, the window-filled open-concept living space is bright and inviting. From your kitchen vantage point, you can prepare a meal, keep an eye on the game, and serve guests in the dining area or out on the oversized deck.Featuring custom cabinetry, an eat-in island, Thermador appliances, and a dreamy pale blue tile backsplash, the kitchen is not just a total showstopper, it’s designed by someone who understands ho...

The Mega Millions jackpot is now $940 million after months without a big winner

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:00 GMT

By The Associated PressLottery players will have another shot at a huge Mega Millions jackpot Friday night and a chance to break a stretch of more than three months without a big winner of the game.The estimated $940 million prize has been building since someone last matched all six numbers and won the jackpot April 18. Since then, there have been 28 straight drawings without a jackpot winner.The jackpot is now the eighth-largest ever in the U.S. It comes a little over a week after someone in Los Angeles won a $1.08 billion Powerball prize that ranked as the sixth-largest in U.S. history. It’s still a mystery who won that prize.Lottery jackpots grow so large because the odds of winning are so small. For Mega Millions, the odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 302.6 million.The $940 million prize would be for a sole winner choosing to be paid through an annuity with annual payments over 30 years. Jackpot winners almost always opt for a lump sum payment, which for Friday ni...

Yankees activate Aaron Judge before crucial clash with Orioles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:00 GMT

BALTIMORE – Aaron Judge is back.The Yankees activated their captain on Friday, just in time for a three-game series with the first-place Orioles. The team demoted Oswald Peraza to make space for Judge, who has been out since June 3 after tearing a ligament in his right big toe while making a spectacular catch at Dodger Stadium.The Yankees also designated Willie Calhoun for assignment on Friday.Judge’s injury left the Yankees without the reigning MVP for nearly two months. The team’s lineup scuffled as a result. As of Friday morning, the Yankees were 29th in average, 26th in on-base percentage, 22nd in wRC+ and 21st in runs during Judge’s absence.Judge, in 49 games, has slashed .291/.404/.674 with 19 home runs, 40 RBI, a 187 wRC+ and 2.7 Wins Above Replacement, per FanGraphs. He leads the team in all three slash line statistics, home runs, wRC+ and WAR.The last-place Yankees, while 54-48 overall, have been a sub-.500 team without ...

Colorado officer who put suspect in car hit by train found guilty of reckless endangerment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:00 GMT

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado police officer who put a handcuffed woman in a parked police vehicle that was hit by a freight train has been found guilty of reckless endangerment and assault but was acquitted of a third charge of criminal attempt to commit manslaughter. Jordan Steinke was the first of two officers to go to trial over the Sept. 16, 2022, crash that left Yareni Rios-Gonzalez seriously injured.Steinke testified that she did not know that the patrol car of another officer she was helping was parked on the tracks even though they can be seen on her body camera footage along with two railroad crossing signs. Steinke said she was focused on the threat that could come from Rios-Gonzalez and her pickup truck, not the ground.Steinke said she put Rios-Gonzalez in the other officer’s vehicle because it was the nearest spot to temporarily hold her. She said she didn’t know the train was coming until just before it hit.There was no jury in Steinke’s trial, which started Monday. Instead...

Roller coaster with big crack has a second structural issue, inspectors say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:00 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Another structural issue has been located with a large roller coaster that’s been closed for weeks since a large crack in a support column was discovered, a North Carolina agency confirmed on Friday.A Swiss-based engineering company that designed and built the Fury 325 roller coaster at Carowinds, which sits along the North Carolina-South Carolina border, replaced that steel support column earlier this month, news outlets reported.But the North Carolina Department of Labor, which inspects the ride and decides whether it can operate, said in an email that the agency has now been notified of a separate “weld indication,” which “could be either a break or a crack.”“No certificate of operation has been issued nor do we have a timeline of when the certificate of operation will be issued for the Fury 325,” department spokesperson Meredith Watson said, referring other questions to Carowinds.In a statement released Friday, Carowinds said it was conducting a full maint...