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Backlog of deaths weighs down Santa Cruz County coroner’s unit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:57 GMT

SANTA CRUZ — As countywide efforts to increase the availability of overdose remedies ramp up, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Unit has been weighed down by a growing backlog of deaths, many related to drug overdoses.The coroner’s unit saw a 3,150% increase in fentanyl overdose-related deaths in a four-year period, a startling statistic reported to the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday when the Sheriff’s Office came seeking authorization to hire a new coroner’s investigator to assist the chief forensic pathologist.“The fentanyl crisis, we read about it day in and day out and it’s hit home,” Supervisor Bruce McPherson said before voting with the board to approve the new hire as a consent agenda item. “This is a catastrophe and we need to address it as quickly as we can, with the cooperative effort through every law enforcement agency that we have.”As opioid overdoses have skyrocketed, affecting the Santa Cruz County Coroner’s Unit, countywide efforts t...

SNAP recipients expected to get boosted benefits from DC funding

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:57 GMT

District residents who receive government assistance to buy groceries will see a boost in benefits after the D.C. Council said it expects to spend $40 million in excess revenue in 2024 to help low-income families.D.C. will boost SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits by 10% between January and September of 2024 to help the city’s more than 145,000 recipients feed their families.At-Large Council member Christina Henderson spearheaded the proposed legislation — Give SNAP A Raise — and brought it before the Council in 2022. The bill became law in March and will go into effect next year.The boost is temporary but it will add another $20 million in direct cash assistance to workers who were unable to qualify for federal unemployment and were not given federal pandemic aid.“The question then is: Are we going to be able to find permanent funding to be able to maintain this increase in perpetuity?” Henderson told WTOP.She noted that the good news came as...

With bond-yields near 2-decade high, Wall Street’s strong 2023 starts to deflate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Treasury yields surged in September and sapped the energy from a strong stock market as investors came to terms with the likelihood that interest rates will remain high well into 2024.The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences rates for mortgages and other loans, jumped past 4.50% in September and continues rising. It is at its highest level in nearly two decades. The yield on the 2-year Treasury, which tracks expectations for the Fed’s interest rate policy, jumped above 5.00% in September and also continues edging higher.“Once again, the move in rates has proven to be too much too fast for equity markets to handle,” said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial, in a note to investors.High bond yields make it less likely that investors will invest in riskier stocks, especially pricey technology companies. The early autumn slump in bond prices that jolted yields higher tripped up what had been a solid recovery for the S&P 500 and other...

DC-area couple gets married 180 feet over the Potomac River

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:57 GMT

One D.C.-area couple recently began their marriage on a high note — literally.Marcos Martinez and Karen Chavez tied the knot Tuesday on the Capital Wheel at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. The couple soared 180 feet above the Potomac River in a private gondola, according to a news release from the Capital Wheel.One year to the date before the wedding, Martinez had proposed to Chavez at the same spot. The pair are big fans of Ferris wheels and have traveled around the U.S. to check out different attractions.They decided the Capital Wheel in their hometown was the perfect place to kick off their marriage, the news release said.“This was a first for us at The Capital Wheel,” said Derek Lovato, vice president and general manager for the Capital Wheel. “We have lots of people who get engaged here, but this is the first time we’ve had a couple get engaged and then come back exactly one year later to get married inside a gondola.”The ceremony was small — just Martinez, Chavez...

You won't be fined for crossing into the express lane in these cases

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:57 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — At the beginning of October, the Colorado Department of Transportation began fining drivers who were caught weaving in and out of the express lanes. However, crossing the line isn't always black and white. There are exceptions to this new rule.It's a $75 ticket if the roadway technology tracks you weaving through the solid white lines on C-470 from Interstate 25 to Wadsworth Boulevard, and I-25 from U.S. 36 to E-470. During the grace period in September, the roadway sensors issued over 40,000 violations in just 20 days. No more warnings: Drive over the line, pay the fine While the system tracks thousands of drivers crossing the line, it can be adjusted. The system also allows CDOT to account for traffic crashes that force people into the express lanes, according to Tim Hoover, CDOT's communications integration lead.For example, when a crash occurs and law enforcement closes a lane and diverts people to the express lane, CDOT’s traffic operations center notifies the...

How much snow could Denver get in October?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:57 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — When you think of October, you might think of Halloween or falling leaves. But if you haven't lived in Denver for very long, you might want to add snow to the list.This is because October is usually when Denver sees snow for the first time, though you might not know this if you arrived in 2021 or 2022 given it didn't snow until after October both years.But how much snow could you expect?Average snowfall for OctoberOn average, Denver gets around 4.1 inches of snow in October, according to Pinpoint Weather Meteorologist Travis Michels.While Denver did not see any measurable snow in October 2022 and 2021, that is by no means the norm. When will Denver see the first snow of the season? With the exception of 2021 and 2022, over the last five years, Denver has seen a decent amount of snow in October:2022 - Only trace amounts2021 - Only trace amounts2020 - 4 inches2019 - 12.5 inches2018 - 3.5 inchesMichels pinned the first day of snow this season to come a few days after ...

Florida hit-and-run suspect arrested after driving with victim on hood of car

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:57 GMT

PALM COAST, Fla. – A 76-year-old Florida driver was at the center of a breathtaking incident that unfolded like a scene from an action movie on a bustling intersection in Palm Coast last Saturday. What unfolded next was nothing short of extraordinary.A minor crash near the intersection triggered a startling chain of events. The victim involved in the initial collision attempted to prevent the driver, Cheryl Henderson, from fleeing the scene, resulting in a gripping struggle for control. Henderson’s reaction? Instead of yielding, she accelerated, with the determined man clinging desperately to the hood of her car.Surveillance cameras captured the scene, showing Henderson’s grey SUV hurtling down the street, reaching speeds of up to 50 miles per hour, as she appeared unfazed by the man hanging on for dear life. Bystanders attempted to intervene, imploring Henderson to halt her reckless journey, but she pressed on, defying their pleas.This ordeal persisted for nearly ...

Sanction Serbia’s Vučić or I won’t meet him, Kosovo’s president says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:57 GMT

GRANADA, Spain — Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani flatly refused to meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić at a summit on Thursday, instead calling for the EU to first sanction Vučić. “There’s no reason to meet before sanctions are adopted towards Vučić. Sanctions first, and then we can talk about the rest,” Osmani told reporters ahead of a meeting of leaders for the European Political Community in Granada.The European Political Community, created last year in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, aims to promote peace — and European Council President Charles Michel said it “should play an important role in defusing conflicts” between Serbia and Kosovo as well as in the South Caucasus between Armenia and Azerbaijan.But Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev cancelled his participation at the last minute. Meanwhile, no meeting is in sight between Kosovo and Serbia.Tensions between the two flared up again recently in the Western Balkans when a...

Suspect identified, charged with murder in Holyoke shooting that resulted in pregnant woman being shot, death of infant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:57 GMT

Law enforcement have identified a man charged in connection with a shooting in Holyoke that left a pregnant woman in critical condition, whose infant child later died.Johnluis Sanchez, 30, was identified by the Hampden District Attorney’s office as one of three male suspects involved in an altercation that led to the shooting on Sargeant Street Wednesday afternoon.Authorities said during the shooting, an unrelated pregnant woman sitting in a bus nearby was struck, leaving her in critical condition. According to officials, her infant later passed away after being delivered and needing life-saving medical care.The DA’s office said all suspects involved had since been identified, with one taken to a hospital, while another was brought into custody.In an update Thursday morning, the office said that Sanchez was to be arraigned in Holyoke District Court and that he would be charged with murder, with other charges expected.Details on the two other male suspects involved in the...

4 doctors were gunned down on a Rio beach and there are suspicions of a political motive

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:57 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Four doctors were shot — three of them fatally — beside a beach in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in the early hours of Thursday in what may have been a politically motivated execution. Security camera footage obtained by local newspaper O Globo showed a group of black-clad gunmen emerging from a car and running up to the men’s beachside table in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood and opening fire. Local press reported that the men were in town from Sao Paulo for an international orthopedics conference and that the dead men included the brother of federal lawmaker Sâmia Bomfim. The fourth doctor was wounded and brought to a hospital, according to a statement from Rio’s military police. Brazilian Justice Minister Flávio Dino said he was tasking the Federal Police with joining the investigation in light of the hypothesis it may have been motivated by the actions of federal lawmakers. Bomfim is married to another lawmaker, Glauber Braga.“After thes...