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Maui fires renew centuries-old tensions over water rights. The streams are sacred to Hawaiians

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Shortly after the ignition of the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, a developer of land around a threatened Maui community urgently asked state officials for permission to divert water from streams to fight the growing inferno.West Maui Land Company, Inc. said it eventually received approval from the Hawaii commission that oversees water management, but suggested the state body didn’t act quickly enough and first directed the company to talk with a downstream taro farmer who relies on stream water, according to letters by a company executive obtained by The Associated Press and other news outlets. Community members, including Native Hawaiian farmers, say the water the developer wanted for its reservoirs would not have made a difference in the fires. The reservoirs don’t supply Maui County’s fire hydrants, and firefighting helicopters — which could have dipped into the reservoirs for water — were grounded by high winds.The Aug. 8 fire that killed ...

Norway rebuilding reindeer fence along border with Russia to stop costly hooves’ crossings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway is rebuilding a dilapidated reindeer fence along its border with Russia in the Arctic to stop the animals from wandering into the neighboring country — costly strolls for which Oslo has to compensate Moscow over loss of grassland. Norwegian officials said Thursday that so far this year, 42 reindeer have crossed into Russia seeking better pastures and grazing land. The reindeer barrier along the Norway-Russia border spans 150 kilometers (93 miles) and dates back to 1954. The Norwegian Agriculture Agency said a stretch of about 7 kilometers (4 miles) between the Norwegian towns of Hamborgvatnet and Storskog would be replaced. The construction, with a price tag of 3.7 million kroner ($348,000), is to be completed by Oct. 1, the agency said.The work is a challenge, however, as the workers have to stay on the Norwegian side of the border “at all times” during construction, “which makes the work extra demanding,” said Magnar Evertsen of the ag...

Stock market today: Wall Street is drifting as yields in the bond market steady

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is drifting on Thursday following a blowout profit report from Nvidia and some mixed reports on the U.S. economy. The S&P 500 was 0.1% higher in morning trading and remains on track to break a three-week losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 61 points, or 0.2%, at 34,534, as of 10:13 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% lower.Nvidia was in the spotlight after it reported much stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than expected. That raised hopes that this year’s frenzy on Wall Street around artificial-intelligence technology isn’t just hype.Nvidia first stunned the market three months ago when it said the quick adoption of AI would send its revenue soaring in the three months through July. Its sales came in even better than forecast, at $12.51 billion, and the company gave a forecast for the current quarter that again blew past Wall Street’s expectations.Nvidia climbed 3.1%, bringing its gain for the year ...

Shein and Forever 21 team up in hopes of expanding reach of both fast-fashion retailers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Fast fashion retailers Shein and Forever 21 are going into business together.Under a partnership agreement announced Thursday, the Chinese-founded Shein will acquire about one-third interest in Sparc Group, Forever 21’s operator. Sparc will also become a minority shareholder in Shein.The deal is expected to expand Forever 21’s distribution on Shein’s global e-commerce platform, which has attracted 150 million online users. In turn, the partnership “also offers the opportunity to test” Shein product sales and returns in physical Forever 21 stores across the U.S., the companies said in a joint release. Forever 21 has more than 540 locations worldwide and online. The announcement did not disclose financial details of the deal. The Wall Street Journal first reported the deal between Shein and Sparc Thursday.Sparc is a joint venture that includes brand development company Authentic Brands Group and mall operator Simon Property Group. Beyond the U.S.-base...

Trucking industry facing leaner times as consumer demand drops

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

MONTREAL — The Canadian trucking industry faces a shaky market as cargo volumes and freight rates continue to fall compared with the soaring highs seen during the pandemic.Trucking HR Canada, a trade group, says declining demand prompted an employment decrease of more than 20,500 jobs or seven per cent of the driver workforce in the first three months of this year compared with December 2022.Mike Millian, president of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada, says smaller fleets with fewer resources and contracts are especially prone to a downturn, which comes as consumers spend more on services and less on household items.Millian says an even steeper drop in shipments in the United States has also dented Canadian trucker revenues, as drivers struggle to find loads to haul back to Canada after making deliveries south of the border.Earlier this month, 94-year-old American trucking giant Yellow Corp. declared bankruptcy after years of financial struggles, a demise that supply chain e...

Dominican officials inspect damage inflicted by Tropical Storm Franklin after heavy flooding

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Authorities in the Dominican Republic fanned out across the Caribbean country on Thursday to evaluate the damage Tropical Storm Franklin inflicted on crops and homes after causing heavy flooding that killed at least one person and left two others missing.More than 670 homes were affected by the storm, according to preliminary government figures, and 24 communities were cut off by heavy rains.Crews evacuated more than 3,300 people to higher ground ahead of the storm, and another 352 residents sought safety in government shelters.Among them was Domingo Ogando Figuereo, who took shelter in a communal center in the city of San Cristobal with his wife and three children.“We hope everything turns out well,” he said as he asked authorities to prevent water from the Yubaso River near his home from backing up.The request was echoed by Santa Rosario Rodríguez, a homemaker who went to a shelter with her two daughters when the Nigua River by her house st...

Buffalo Grove High School closed due to HVAC problems amid heat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. — Buffalo Grove High School was closed Thursday morning due to HVAC problems amid extreme heat.The school said there are unusually high temperatures in the building and wet floor conditions.School buses have been taking back students to their bus stops."We recognize the timing of this decision is far from ideal and sincerely apologize for this unforeseen inconvenience and disruption to our schedule. The timing of our system failure and resulting conditions in the building forced a later than desired decision timeline," the school said. Excessive Heat Warning remains in effect as dangerous temps continue across Chicago area Buffalo Grove High School said maintenance is working on the matter but it is not expected to be resolved Thursday in time.

BTK serial killer a ‘prime suspect’ in 1976 missing person case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — After searching the former property of the BTK serial killer, authorities from Osage County, Oklahoma, say there might be connections to other missing person cases.Investigators named Dennis Rader as the No. 1 suspect in an Oklahoma missing person case from the 1970s. He also has been named the “prime suspect” in an unsolved killing in Missouri, authorities announced Wednesday.The Osage County Sheriff's Office said the focus of Tuesday's search in Park City, Kansas, was closely tied to the disappearance of Cynthia Dawn Kinney of Pawhuska, Oklahoma. The 16-year-old cheerleader was last seen leaving a laundromat in Pawhuska in June 1976.The sheriff's office said they started investigating the case again in December after new discoveries tied Rader to Kinney's disappearance.Nearly 50 years ago, investigators suspected Rader was installing security equipment at a bank in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Across the street was a laundromat where Kinney was last seen. Rader ...

A 100-year-old Maui home is still standing after wildfires devastated every other house in the area. Why?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

MAUI, Hawaii (WJW) – In an aerial photo that looks almost unreal, a 100-year-old wooden home appears to have survived the Hawaii wildfires largely unscathed, despite every other residence in the area being reduced to ashes.Trip Millikin's home on Front Street, with its prominent red roof, has remarkably weathered the wildfires with no real visible damage."It looks like it was photoshopped in,” Millikin told the Honolulu Civil Beat of the home, which still stands among the ruins and rubble of the surrounding Lahaina community. Visitors implored to come back as Maui job cuts soar In his interview with the outlet, Millikin said he and his wife Dora Atwater Millikin were visiting Massachusetts when the fires swept through their neighborhood. When he first heard news of the devastation, he assumed that his home, like his neighbors' homes, would be lost.“It’s a 100% wood house so it’s not like we fireproofed it or anything,” Atwater Millikin told the L.A. Times.But the Millikins, who pu...

Schenectady man sentenced on drug trafficking charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A Schenectady man was sentenced to seven years in prison and three years of post-release supervision. Doron Tucker, 27, was sentenced for conspiring to distribute fentanyl, possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl and marijuana, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! Tucker admitted to supplying his co-conspirator, Darren Favreau, with pills containing fentanyl, which were sold in Troy and Schenectady between June and October 2020. Favreau was arrested in August 2020, so Tucker took over the sales. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Tucker's apartment in Schenectady in October 2020. Officers seized marijuana, a digital scale, around $8,000 in cash, and a loaded .40 caliber handgun. Police also located 386 fentanyl pills, more marijuana, and another digital scale in Tucker's car. Tucker was also found to have about $1,000 in cas...