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Bronx Zoo welcomes pair of new Mangshan pit vipers, one of the world’s rarest species of snakes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

Larry McShane | New York Daily NewsTwo recently-arrived Mangshan pit vipers, one of the world’s rarest and most colorful species of snake, are just a subway ride away in the Bronx.The new hatchlings were born this past Aug. 7 at the Bronx Zoo, with one of the pair now housed in the nursery at the facility’s World of Reptiles with a pair of adult Mangshan vipers, the facility said in a Friday news release. The venomous snakes were only discovered in 1990 and are believed to live solely inside a densely forested 115-square-mile stretch of mountains in Southeast China.Zoo officials described the pit viper as an endangered and “exceptionally beautiful” creature, with its scales forming camouflage patchworks in various colors of green for protection in the forest and a light-colored tip to their tales. The zoo said there are currently just 500 Mangshan pit vipers believed to exist in the wild, and the creatures are listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Natur...

1.2 million chickens will be slaughtered at an Iowa farm where bird flu was found

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

By JOSH FUNK (Associated Press)An additional 1.2 million chickens will be slaughtered to prevent the spread of the bird flu after the virus was confirmed on an Iowa egg farm in the second massive case this week.The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship announced the latest bird flu infection at a farm in Taylor County Friday, and Iowa’s governor immediately declared a disaster there to make sure the state has the resources to respond quickly. The Iowa case is just the latest one in the outbreak that began early last year and has prompted officials to kill a total of nearly 63 million birds. Earlier this week, 1 million chickens were killed on a Minnesota egg farm. But the vast majority of the cases, or nearly 58 million birds, occurred last yearAnytime a case of bird flu is found the entire flock is killed to help keep the highly contagious virus from spreading to another farm. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been finding fewer wild birds carrying the viru...

San Diego votes to advance rolling back scooter laws after Bird pulls from city

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

SAN DIEGO — San Diego City Councilmembers voted to advance a proposal that would soften regulations around rental scooters on Wednesday, just days after the last scooter company in the city announced that they would be suspending operations.Bird notified their riders of their plans to remove devices from the city last weekend, leaving San Diego without the option that city officials have increasingly looked to as a convenient, sustainable alternative for people to get around neighborhoods.Other companies that were had contracts to allow them to deploy scooters in San Diego — Lime, Spin and Link — all pulled out of the city, in part due to laws passed by city officials to address safety and sidewalk congestion. New funding to advance airport transit link project approved by SANDAG These regulations included a sidewalk speed limit of 3 mph, the banning of large or disorderly clusters of scooters, imposition of fees on operators, and limits on the number of companies and devices that...

‘Nope’ star Keke Palmer alleges physical abuse by ex-boyfriend Darius Jackson, court documents say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Nope” star Keke Palmer alleges in civil court documents that she suffered physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her ex-boyfriend, with whom she shares a son.The filing this week in Los Angeles County Superior Court included a request for a domestic violence restraining order against Darius Jackson, 29. Judge Wendy L. Wilcox on Thursday issued a temporary order pending a Dec. 5 hearing.Telephone messages seeking comment from Jackson were left on voicemail at a number associated with his address as listed in the court filing. The documents did not list any attorney who might comment on his behalf.Incidents of violence, both recent and in the past, were described in a legal declaration under the actor’s real name, Lauren Palmer. She said she dated Jackson from June 2021 until the relationship ended this past October because of physical and emotional abuse. “On Sunday, November 5, Darius trespassed into my home, physically attacked me, knocked me over my...

Moody’s lowers US credit outlook, though keeps triple-A rating

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service lowered its outlook on the U.S. government’s debt on Friday to “negative” from “stable,” citing the cost of rising interest rates and political polarization in Congress. Moody’s retained its top triple-A credit rating on U.S. government debt, though it is the last of the three major credit rating agencies to do so. Fitch Ratings lowered its rating to AA+ from AAA in August, and Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S. in 2011. A reduced outlook, however, raises the risk that Moody’s could eventually strip its triple-A rating from the U.S. as well. A lower rating on U.S. debt could cost taxpayers if it leads borrowers to demand higher interest rates on Treasury bills and notes. The yield on the 10-year Treasury has risen significantly since July, from about 3.9% to 4.6% Friday, an unusually sharp rise. Some market analysts have said the August Fitch downgrade may have contributed to that inc...

Skilling: Cool, but sunny weekend ahead for Chicagoland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

It was markedly chillier today than Thursday with a high of just 45-deg -- a reading 6 degrees below normal and cool enough to rank among Fall 2023's  season's four coolest days.Clouds will break up as expeditiously tonight as they arrived Friday.  While the day opened sunny Friday morning, an overcast spread in during the late morning and afternoon.The clearing is to permit temps to drop in the chilly Canadian air mass which has swept in across the area.  That diminishing winds and 20-deg dew points will be present tonight—an indication of an environment in which all the stops to slow nighttime cooling are being removed--it's likely we'll see some bone-chilling mid 20-deg lows in the normally colder locations which surround the city and are away from the warming influence of Lake Michigan with its low 50-deg water temps. Speaking of Lake Michigan, its water temps off Chicago have dropped more than 20-degrees off their late August high of 72.4-deg—having settled to an average of 52....

Teen in critical condition after being shot in head on West Side

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

CHICAGO -- Chicago police are investigating after a teenager was shot in the head on the West Side Friday morning.According to the Chicago Police Department, officers responded to the 5000 block of West Madison Street in Chicago's Austin neighborhood on reports of a shooting around 11 a.m. on Friday. FBI search for man who robbed 3 downtown banks The 16-year-old was reportedly standing in a hallway when two offenders fired shots, hitting him in the back of the head and abdomen.The teen was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.No on has been taken into custody.The investigation is ongoing.

Stolen car suspects leads Indiana police to scrapyard; more stolen cars found inside

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Metropolitan police say a suspect in a stolen vehicle led officers to an east side scrapyard Thursday where they found even more stolen cars.According to IMPD, around 3 p.m. Thursday IMPD North District officers began following a suspect reportedly driving a stolen Hyundai on the city's east side. Officers caught up with the suspect, who then reportedly drove into a scrapyard in the 2800 block of Euclid Avenue. IMPD said three people ran out of the car but were quickly apprehended. All three were juveniles--a 15-year-old and two 17-year-olds. Woman robbed at gunpoint in Woodfield Mall parking lot, suspect leads police chase Soon after, IMPD said that the officers began running VIN numbers on other vehicles stored and there and located two more cars confirmed to have been stolen. A detective was granted a search warrant for the property; investigators said at least 15 stolen vehicles were recovered, not counting the original car that spurred the investig...

'A devoted grandmother and friend': Illinois woman dies in Michigan crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

EATON COUNTY, Mich. (WMBD) -- An Illinois woman died after a crash on northbound Interstate 69 south in Walton Township on Wednesday morning.According to an Eaton County Sheriff's Office Facebook post, 70-year-old Normandie Lyon of Pontiac was pronounced dead at the scene. Man charged with animal abuse for actions at rodeo in Lockport Township Normandie's daughter, Megan Lyon, said her family was devastated by the loss."She was everyone to us as I’m an only child and my children have no other relatives as far as grandpas or grandmothers cousins uncles aunts, It was me, my mom and my two children who were extremely close," she said.She said one of her children is deployed on a Navy submarine, and needed to be informed by his chain of command."It’s already hard enough mentally on him being down there but now I couldn’t even be the one to tell him, I don’t know if he’s been told or if they will even get him home for the funeral," Megan said.Megan described her mother as a devoted gra...

34th Ward Alderman, Sen. Dick Durbin host event to help migrants obtain legal work permits

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

CHICAGO — As the City of Chicago struggles to house the recent influx of migrants being bused to the city, many of the new arrivals face another major stumbling block, the inability to obtain legal work permits.On Friday, Alderman Bill Conway (34th Ward), with help from US Senator Dick Durbin, organized an effort to help streamline the application process. Brighton Park residents protest proposed migrant tent camp It is a burdensome process for those seeking work authorization, most of them Spanish speakers from Venezuela who must fill out 30 pages of government forms, all in English.“When you meet the new arrivals, and you talk to them for just a few minutes, one of the first things they say is, ‘Can you help me find a job?’” Sen. Durbin said.It is the second time Ald. Conway has hosted the free legal aid clinic.“This humanitarian crisis is really going to require us to work across all levels of government,” Conway said.Wilfredo Gil, a Venezuelan asylum seeker, who took part in F...