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Lobsterman Catches Five-footer: Maine State Police dispose of military rocket caught by lobster trapper

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:34 GMT

State police in Maine safely disposed of a five-foot-long military rocket discovered off the coast this week.Maine State Police said members of its bomb squad were called in Tuesday morning after a lobsterman based out of Cushing caught the armament some 20 miles away from shore.According to MSP’s Facebook page, the lobsterman brought the rocket ashore and contacted authorities a day after making the discovery.Bomb squad personnel were able to analyze the item and identify it as an “MK29 Mod-0” type rocket, but when using X-ray imaging, state police said technicians could not confirm whether it contained explosive materials.Due to the condition of the missile, authorities opted to “countercharge” the missile with guidance from a Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit and were able to safely dispose of it.

Mary Quant, miniskirt mastermind of swinging 60s, dies at 93

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:34 GMT

By DANICA KIRKA and JILL LAWLESS (Associated Press)LONDON (AP) — Mary Quant, the visionary fashion designer whose colorful, sexy miniskirts epitomized Swinging London in the 1960s and influenced youth culture around the world, has died. She was 93.Quant’s family said she died “peacefully at home” in Surrey, southern England, on Thursday.Quant helped popularize the miniskirt — some credit her with inventing it — and the innovative tights that went along with it, creating dresses and accessories that were an integral part of the look. She created simple mix-and-match garments that had an element of whimsy. Some compared her impact on the fashion world with The Beatles’ impact on pop music.“I think it was a happy confluence of events, which is really what fashion is so often all about,” said Hamish Bowles, international editor at large for American Vogue magazine. “She was the right person with the right sensibility in the rig...

DOJ to ask Supreme Court to put abortion pill limits on hold

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:34 GMT

By PAUL J. WEBER and JESSICA GRESKO (Associated Press)AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled that the abortion pill mifepristone can still be used for now but reduced the period of pregnancy when the drug can be taken and said it could not be dispensed by mail.The decision late Wednesday temporarily narrowed a ruling by a lower court judge in Texas that had completely blocked the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the nation’s most commonly used method of abortion. Still, preventing the pill from being sent by mail amounts to another significant curtailing of abortion access — less than a year after the reversal of Roe v. Wade resulted in more than a dozen states effectively banning abortion outright.In response Thursday, the Justice Department said it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency order to put any action on hold.“We are going to continue to fight in the courts, we believe the law is on our side, and we will prevai...

Maritime Museum proposes $28M museum project over San Diego Bay

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:34 GMT

SAN DIEGO — While the historic ship collection on the waterfront is called the Maritime Museum of San Diego, there is no actual museum building.Maritime Museum President Ray Ashley wants to change that. "We certainly want to give the impression there is a museum there," said Ashley.Maritime Museum officials have put together a proposal to build a two-story museum facility that would include galleries, a theater and a café, all built over the water on an extended pier off the Embarcadero. The California state parks among those everyone should visit in their lifetime "It's another educational experience to go through, where you can learn about the history of your community," explained Ashley.The Maritime Museum is working with Tucker Sadler Architects to create the vision.“All the boats will be moved out about 100 feet and then a new pier will be built here with museum on top of it," said Tucker Sadler Architects CEO Greg Mueller.Moving the nine historic vessels would not only prote...

Latest ruling on pill shifts US abortion landscape again

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:34 GMT

A federal appeals court late Wednesday kept an abortion pill available, clarifying the U.S. abortion landscape but not settling it. The court preserved but narrowed access to an abortion pill across the U.S. It was a major development in a fast-shifting landscape in flux since June, when the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to an abortion.WHAT’S NEW?The majority of abortions in the U.S. are obtained using a combination of two medications. Anti-abortion groups have been trying to limit access to one of them, mifepristone.The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that the Food and Drug Administration’s initial approval of mifepristone in 2000 should remain in effect, overriding a district court ruling from less than a week before. Without Wednesday’s ruling, the drug would have been unavailable in at least some places starting on Saturday.The 2-1 ruling came with a catch: the judges put on hold a 2016 regulatory decision to relax some prescribing and disp...

Stocks tick higher on Wall Street as inflation slows further

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:34 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is ticking higher Thursday following the latest sign that inflation continues to cool.The S&P 500 was 0.6% higher in midday trading after a report showed inflation at the wholesale level slowed last month by more than expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 144 points, or 0.4%, at 33,790, as of 11:15 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 1.3% higher.Thursday’s report showed that prices paid to producers last month were 2.7% higher than a year earlier, the lowest inflation level there in more than two years. The hope on Wall Street is that easier inflation on the wholesale level will not only support profits for companies but also flow through to cooler inflation for consumers. A day earlier, a separate report said inflation for consumers slowed to 5%. Inflation and how high the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates to tame it have been at the center of Wall Street’s struggles for more than a year. The Fed has hiked rates at su...

Second expelled Black Democrat reinstated to Tennessee House

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:34 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The second of two Black Democrats who were kicked out of the Republican-led Tennessee House followed his colleague back to work at the Capitol on Thursday, a week after their expulsion for participating in a gun control protest propelled them into the national spotlight.State Rep. Justin Pearson, of Memphis, was sworn in Thursday outside the Statehouse. The day before, Shelby County commissioners unanimously voted to reinstate him.“Yes indeed, happy resurrection day,” Pearson said Thursday morning as he signed paperwork for his return.“There will be a new building of this building, with a foundation built on love,” Pearson said during a fiery speech outside the Capitol after being sworn in. “With pillars of justice rising up. With rafters of courage covering us. With doors that are open to everybody in the state of Tennessee. Not just rich somebodies, but everybody. Not just straight somebodies, but everybody. Not just Republican somebodies, but everybody.”Af...

Promising new malaria vaccine for kids approved in Ghana

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:34 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Ghana on Thursday became the first country to approve a new malaria vaccine for young children, one that officials hope will offer better protection against the disease that kills hundreds of thousands every year.Final results from late-stage trials have not yet been published, and the vaccine is under review at the World Health Organization. But preliminary results from early testing of the new vaccine, developed at the University of Oxford, have suggested the vaccine is far more effective than the only malaria vaccine now authorized for use by the WHO.Late-stage testing of the vaccine still is underway in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali and Tanzania, with results expected later this year. Results from an earlier trial released last year showed that in children vaccinated in Burkina Faso, the vaccine was up to 80% effective depending how much of an immune-boosting ingredient was included in the shots. The WHO has already rolled out a pilot program of the world’s fir...

Supreme Court upholds acquittal of Quebec man who refused breathalyzer test

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:34 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada’s highest court has upheld the acquittal of a Quebec man who refused to provide a sample of his breath to officers who didn’t have immediate access to a breathalyzer test.The Supreme Court of Canada says the demand was invalid because police did not have in their possession an approved screening device to test for alcohol.Police in April 2017 were looking for a man who had been reported by patrollers for being drunk while driving an all-terrain vehicle.Officers stopped a man who was on foot, who allegedly had bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol.Police radioed their nearby colleagues to provide them with a test, but the man repeatedly refused to give a breath sample and insisted he had not been behind the wheel of an ATV.He was found guilty by a municipal court of refusing to comply with a police order for a breath sample, but the Quebec Court of Appeal acquitted him.This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 13, 2023.The Canadian Press

It’s moving season — here are some ways to cut down costs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:34 GMT

As moving season dawns, those looking to save money on the process have a truckload of options before them.Preparation, research and timing are all factors in determining whether a move empties your pocketbook or merely lightens it.A small move might be done for less than $200, with companies such as U-Haul offering half-day rentals of trucks with a 10-foot-long cargo bed for $170, complete with dolly and furniture pads. That can suffice for a sparsely furnished one-bedroom apartment or a storage unit hosting a handful of household items.“If it’s just boxes, if it’s light furniture — those are definitely doable on your own,” said Tiam Behdarvandan, who runs Let’s Get Moving.But those looking to limit the stress and physical effort of leaving a sizable home may want to opt for professional movers, with time and expertise as key considerations.“We will do something in six hours that a regular client would do over 12 hours or over two days,” said Aaron Parker, who owns Toro...