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Shining bright: Local Girl Scout, 11, builds outdoor library in Liberty City

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:57 GMT

A local Girl Scout is sharing her passion for books, and she’s getting her community ready to read, just in time for summer.When many students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools have dreams of putting down the books for summer break, 11-year-old Jaaliyah Powell has other plans.“I noticed there were not very many libraries in Dade County, so I decided to build one for my Bronze project to encourage more people to read more,” she said.The graduating fifth grader brought the idea to her mother, Latavia Powell-McGaha, who said she hesitated at first and ended up racking up some serious mileage collecting books from Homestead up to West Palm Beach.“Here we are today, over 500-plus books donated. I am one proud mom,” said Powell-McGaha.It was all worth it. Powell, soon to graduate from the gifted program at Miami Shores Elementary School, had support from Troop 902.“With the help of the community and her parents and her family, what she put together wa...

Benefits of the Substances of Human Origin (SoHO) Regulation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:57 GMT

At the end of June, the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) is set to vote on amendments to the European Commission’s draft proposal for a regulation on standards of quality and safety for substances of human origin intended for human application (SoHO Regulation). This includes plasma. It is vital that the new Regulation is informed by science and fact, and that agreed solutions for sustainable supply across Europe are grounded in reality, placing donor and patient well-being first.Plasma is the single largest component of human blood that contains proteins that are vital to the human body.Plasma is the single largest component of human blood that contains proteins that are vital to the human body. Medicines made from plasma — plasma-derived medicinal products (PDMPs) — are essential therapies that treat a variety of rare and complex chronic diseases, replacing missing or deficient proteins, and enabling people with lifelong cond...

Police believe Ukraine war has triggered a crime wave … in rural England

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:57 GMT

LONDON — Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has had repercussions for every part of Europe. A spate of burglaries in the sleepier corners of rural England may seem an unlikely addition to the list.But British police say organized criminal gangs are sending machinery and equipment stolen from farms across the U.K. to Eastern Europe in rapidly-increasing quantities, and blame the crippling Western sanctions imposed on Russia for soaring demand.“We know from where we’ve recovered equipment, where we are seeing equipment we have recovered but also that’s being tracked before we can intercept it, it’s heading to Eastern Europe, without a doubt,” Superintendent Andrew Huddleston, who leads the U.K.’s National Rural Crime Unit, told POLITICO. Huddlestone has no conclusive evidence the equipment is ultimately destined for heavily sanctioned Russia, but says he and senior colleagues are in little doubt.“If you asked me my professional opinion, for a country that’s under ...

Mexico president’s ruling party forecast to win governorship of country’s most populous state

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:57 GMT

NAUCALPAN, Mexico (AP) — A quick-count sampling of votes for governor of Mexico’s most populous state suggested a victory late Sunday for the candidate from the governing party of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which would end nearly a century of uninterrupted rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party.Preliminary results indicated Delfina Gómez of the Morena party was likely to win between 52.1% and 54.2% of the ballots in the State of Mexico, compared with 43% to 45.2% for Alejandra del Moral, representing the opposition coalition, according to the National Electoral Institute.The forecast was based on representative sampling of voting stations with at least 95% certainty. The outcome will not be final until all ballots were counted. Participation was between 48.7 and 50.2% of eligible state voters.The State of Mexico hugs Mexico City on three sides, encompassing urban sprawl and rural ranches, as well as stunning inequality, violence and corruption. For decades i...

Australian mother imprisoned 20 years pardoned and freed because of doubt she killed her 4 children

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:57 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian woman who spent 20 years in prison was pardoned and released Monday based on new scientific evidence that her four children died by natural causes as she had insisted.The pardon was seen as the quickest way of getting Kathleen Folbigg out of prison, and a final report from the second inquiry into her guilt could recommend the state Court of Appeals quash her convictions.Folbigg, now 55, was released from a prison in Grafton, New South Wales state, following an unconditional pardon by Gov. Margaret Beazley.Australian state governors are figureheads who act on instructions of governments. New South Wales Attorney-General Michael Daley said former justice Tom Bathurst had advised him last week there was reasonable doubt about Folbigg’s guilt based on new scientific evidence that the deaths could have been from natural causes.“There is a reasonable doubt as to Ms. Folbigg’s guilt of the manslaughter of her child Caleb, the infliction of gri...

Heat roar back in the fourth quarter, beat Nuggets 111-108 to tie NBA Finals series

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:57 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Staring down a 2-0 deficit in the NBA Finals, as the visitors in a hostile arena where no road team had prevailed in more than two months, the Miami Heat decided to do what they’ve done throughout the post-season.They found a way. Against all odds. Again.The Heat tied the NBA Finals and had to overcome a monster 41-point effort from Nikola Jokic to do it. Gabe Vincent scored 23 points, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo each had 21 and Heat beat the Denver Nuggets 111-108 in Game 2 on Sunday night.“Our guys are competitors,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They love these kind of moments.”Evidently.They were down by as many as 15 points, down eight going into the fourth, and those numbers signified they were going to lose. Denver was 11-0 in these playoffs when leading by double digits at any point in a game, and 37-1 this season overall when leading by at least eight going into the fourth.The Heat didn’t care. They outscored Denver 17-5 in the first 3:17 of the fourt...

Award-winning Hong Kong journalist wins appeal in rare court ruling upholding media freedom

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:57 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — An award-winning Hong Kong journalist won an appeal quashing her conviction related to work on her investigative documentary Monday in a rare court ruling upholding media freedom in the territory.Bao Choy was found guilty in April 2021 of deceiving the government by getting vehicle ownership records for journalistic purposes after she had declared in her online application that she would use the information for “other traffic and transport related issues.” The investigative journalist was trying to track down perpetrators of a mob attack on protesters and commuters inside a train station during the massive anti-government protests in 2019 for her documentary.Choy was fined 6,000 Hong Kong Dollars ($765) for two counts of making false statements at that time and called it “a very dark day for all journalists in Hong Kong.” That ruling also sparked outrage among local journalists over the city’s shrinking press freedom.On Monday, judges of the city’s top court unanimo...

Sunday night Forecast: mostly clear and low of 62

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:57 GMT

Sunday Night: Mostly clear. NE 5-10 mph. Low: 62, upper 50s away from the lakeMonday: Increasing clouds & slight chance of late evening showers. NE 10-15 mphHigh: 82, Low: 73 by the lakeExtended outlook calls for a weak cold front to move through Monday into Tuesday that could deliver a brief spotty shower or two. Tuesday more cloud cover and highs a bit cooler into the low 70s, 60s by the lake. We'll get back into the upper 70s for Wed/Thu. Friday temps close to 80 and chance of late day showers with some continuing into Saturday. attached: ontario fire risk and active fires from Ontario Ministry of Nat'l Resources & Forestry and the AirNow Air Quality Map fr the U.S. Geological Services Attached: Ontario fire risk and active fires from Ontario Ministry of National Resources & Forestry and the AirNow Air Quality Map from the U.S. Geological Services 

Officers responding to 911 call shoot and kill man in St. Croix County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:57 GMT

Law enforcement officers in St. Croix County on Saturday night shot and killed an armed 42-year-old man whose wife called 911 to report that her husband was “out of control” and “ready” to bring out his assault rifle, officials say.Officers from the New Richmond Police Department and St. Croix County sheriff’s deputies responded to the 911 call that came in about 10:45 p.m. Saturday at a home in the 1900 block of County Trunk Highway CC in Star Prairie Township, Wis., according to a news release Sunday.When they arrived, the woman was outside but two juveniles were still inside the home. According to the release, the man threatened law enforcement officials, who saw through a window that he was armed with a hunting rifle. He continued to make threats and then left the house with a long gun “to confront” the law enforcement officers, the release says, and a sheriff’s deputy and a New Richmond police officer both shot the man. He died at...

After appealing closure, Duluth Heights church reopens with Vatican blessing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:57 GMT

Sunlight filtered in through green, red and yellow stained glass in the St. Joseph Catholic Church sanctuary.Parishioners knelt, sang and prayed with the Rev. John Petrich at the altar, and the 11-person worship team was ready to chime in. The pews and the parking lot were nearly full, and searching for open spots seems a welcomed task for these parishioners.For more than two years, the church, located at 151 Linden St., in the Duluth Heights neighborhood, remained empty due to a decree, set forth by the Diocese of Duluth, to close in 2019.In a very rare occurrence, St. Joseph parish appealed to the Vatican, which, after a long process, ordered the church to reopen as an independent entity, which it did Nov. 6, 2021, with Petrich at the helm.“The universal church for Catholics throughout the whole world listened to people from a little tiny parish in the middle of a little tiny town called Duluth, Minnesota. They presented their case, and the Vatican said, ‘You shouldn’t have ...