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Don’t miss the final three national park free days in 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:52 GMT

With National Park Week underway, you may be thinking about planning your next visit to explore the beauty of America’s public lands. Even if you missed this past Saturday’s free entrance day to kick off the celebration (April 22-30), there are still several occasions when national park gates are open free-of-entry to all.The U.S. National Park Service offers “free entrance” days each year to celebrate holidays and milestones in the history of natural preservation, such as the anniversary of the 2020 Great American Outdoors Act. These freebies are valid for all national-park sites in the country — and there are more than 400 of them, including historic and recreation areas.The Grand Teton mountain range in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, on June 13, 2019. (Photo by DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)The next free day arrives Aug. 4, so mark your calendars and plan accordingly. Note that while entrance fees are waived on these occasions, some fees might still be in plac...

Northern lights spotted in Mammoth Lakes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:52 GMT

MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The array of nighttime colors that is the northern lights are expected to be in the skies for a second time on Monday following a dazzling array above Mammoth Lakes on Sunday.Pictures shared to YourCentralValley.com by photographer Carter Murphy show the ordinarily dark night sky lit up with purple and blue hues with streaks of light interspersed creating an utterly unique image.Northern lights light up the night sky on Sunday above Mammoth Lakes (image courtesy of Carter Murphy)The dazzling display is thanks to a severe geomagnetic storm that erupted Friday. The effects of the storm were so strong Sunday night, that the aurora was possibly "visible as far south as Alabama and northern California," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.The storm was caused by a coronal mass ejections, or CME. CMEs are explosions of plasma and magnetic material from the Sun that can reach Earth in as little as 15 to 18 hours, NOAA explains.S...

Ford teases building school, community centre on Ontario Science Centre site

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:52 GMT

Premier Doug Ford says the current east Toronto site of the Ontario Science Centre could eventually be used for a community centre or a school after the province moves the attraction to Ontario Place downtown.Ford has previously mused about building housing on the site, but said today that he wants to work collaboratively with the city to build something “spectacular.”“It’s their property. If they need some community benefits. If they need a new school, we’ll build a new school. If they need a new community centre, we’ll build a new community centre,” Premier Ford said on Tuesday.The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority owns much of the land at the current science centre site, with most of the rest owned by the city, and it says it has had no discussions with the province about a possible science centre relocation.Ford has dismissed the current science centre building as “run down,” and his infrastructure minister has said i...

More sanctions for deadly fentanyl if bill wins passage

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Over the past year, the U.S. Treasury Department has used its sanctions powers to impose wide-ranging financial penalties on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine — turning Russia into the most sanctioned country in the world. Now, the federal agency is facing increasing pressure, including from legislation being introduced in the Senate, to use those tools with similar vigor against the people, financial institutions and companies that have participated in the explosion of fentanyl use and distribution in the U.S.“As a matter of policy we are dealing with drug cartels who have tremendous economic gain to be made,” said Paul DelPonte, executive director of the nonprofit National Crime Prevention Council, which is pushing for tougher action against those behind the scourge of drug overdose and death. “There are a lot of hands involved in this crime.”Fentanyl is the deadliest drug in the U.S. today. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimat...

‘Missing in action’: gun-control groups chide NDP over noncommittal stance on bill

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:52 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal New Democrats are coming under pressure from gun-control advocates to support the Liberals in enacting a permanent ban on assault-style firearms.In a pair of open letters, various groups pushing for stronger restrictions on guns urge the NDP to come out decisively in favour of enshrining a definition of firearms that belong solely on the battlefield.In response, NDP public-safety critic Peter Julian says the party will always be a willing partner when working to keep people safe from gun violence.Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is set to appear Tuesday afternoon at the House of Commons public safety committee, where MPs are studying gun-control legislation introduced almost a year ago.The appearance comes two months after the Liberals withdrew a late November amendment to the bill that would have spelled out in law the various models covered by the assault-style gun ban.The Liberals billed the definition as an evergreen measure that would cement in legisl...

Autopsy: Parents, kids in burning Oklahoma home were shot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:52 GMT

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Preliminary autopsy reports show eight members of an Oklahoma family found dead inside their burning home were each shot.The bodies of Brian Nelson, 34, his wife Brittney Nelson, 32, and their six children were found in October inside the flaming home in Broken Arrow, a Tulsa suburb. Police at the time called it a murder-suicide.Authorities say all six children — Brian II, 13; Brantley, 9; Vegeta, 7; Ragnar, 5; Kurgan, 2; and Britannica, 1 — were found in a burning bedroom, while their parents were found in the front of the home.The autopsy report says Brian and Brittney Nelson each suffered a gunshot wound to the head and lists the manner of death as unknown.Four of the slain children had multiple gunshot wounds, with the eldest child, Brian Nelson II, suffering at least six.Each child also suffered burns to their bodies, but the manner of death for each of the six is listed as homicide due to gunshot wounds.“Broken Arrow police investigators have reviewed...

Tokyo company loses contact with moon lander in likely crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:52 GMT

A Japanese company lost contact with its spacecraft moments before touchdown on the moon Wednesday, saying the mission had apparently failed.Communications ceased as the lander descended the final 33 feet (10 meters), traveling around 16 mph (25 kph). Flight controllers peered at their screens in Tokyo, expressionless, as the minutes went by with no word from the lander, which is presumed to have crashed. “We have to assume that we could not complete the landing on the lunar surface,” said Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of the company, ispace. If it had landed, the company would have been the first private business to pull off a lunar landing.Only three governments have successfully touched down on the moon: Russia, the United States and China. An Israeli nonprofit tried to land on the moon in 2019, but its spacecraft was destroyed on impact. The 7-foot lander (2.3-meter) Japanese lander carried a mini lunar rover for the United Arab Emirates and a toylike robot from Japan design...

Changes planned for College Board’s Black history class

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:52 GMT

After facing criticism for removing topics including the Black Lives Matter and slavery reparations movements, the College Board announced it will be making changes to its new Advanced Placement African American studies course.The company did not say what the changes will be or when they will be made public. In a statement Monday, it said a development committee and experts charged with developing the course will “determine the details of those changes” over the next few months.“We are committed to providing an unflinching encounter with the facts and evidence of African American history and culture,” the company said.The course gained national attention this winter when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2024, said he would ban the course in his state because he believed it pushed a political agenda.“In the state of Florida, our education standards not only don’t prevent, but they require teaching Black history, all the important things. That...

Drug for rare form of Lou Gehrig’s disease OK’d by FDA

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Food and Drug Administration regulators on Tuesday approved a first-of-a-kind drug for a rare form of Lou Gehrig’s disease, though they are requiring further research to confirm it truly helps patients.The FDA approved Biogen’s injectable drug for patients with a rare genetic mutation that’s estimated to affect less than 500 people in the U.S. It’s the first drug for an inherited form of ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a deadly disease that destroys nerve cells needed for basic functions like walking, talking and swallowing. Approval came via FDA’s accelerated pathway, which allows drugs to launch based on promising early results, before they’re confirmed to benefit patients. That shortcut has come under increasing scrutiny from government watchdogs and congressional investigators.The FDA is requiring Biogen to continue studying the drug in a trial of people who carry the genetic mutation but do not yet have ALS symptoms. The drug, tofersen...

FACT FOCUS: COVID vaccines are not in the food supply

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:52 GMT

Anti-vaccine advocates have for years used foreboding imagery of syringes to paint immunizations as dark and dangerous. But recent vaccine conspiracy theories are casting an air of fear around more mundane things — like cows and lettuce.In widespread posts online in recent weeks, misinformation purveyors have spread an erroneous narrative that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are being quietly added to the food supply, threatening staunch vaccine holdouts.In some cases, users misrepresented the limited use of RNA-based vaccines in animals. In others, they distorted a company’s research into using plants to grow proteins used in vaccines.But experts confirm there are no COVID-19 vaccines in your steak or salad. Here are the facts.CLAIM: COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are being added to the food supply through livestock and produce.THE FACTS: COVID-19 vaccines are not being passed along through livestock or produce, and experts say that would not be an efficient way to immunize someone. A flurry of soc...