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On Día de los Muertos, sacred altars help reunite the living and the dead

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

Each fall, Maruca Salazar prepares her home for visitors from another realm.The 71-year-old scatters the walkway to her house on Denver’s Northside with the rich, orange petals of the cempasúchil — marigold — flowers. The blossoms, grown by Salazar, are synonymous with the traditional Mexican holiday of Día de los Muertos as they are thought to be fragrant enough to attract the spirits of deceased loved ones to their family’s homes and altars.On Thursday, Day of the Dead, Salazar’s family will pack the matriarch’s home and gather around a sacred altar overflowing with photos of the dead and ofrendas — offerings — made up of the departed’s favorite earthly delights. The day serves as a reunion between the living and the dead when the veil between realms is considered thinnest.“It is really peaceful,” Salazar said. “I am happy to know that when you’re gone, there is a beyond, and that beyond is powerful. It is a nostalgic day to remember where you came from and who you came from.”Lit ...

Gretchen’s table: Mummy baked brie with homemade cranberry jam

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

Gretchen McKay | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)The best Halloween costumes are usually the ones that sparkle — or scare — with creativity and imagination.The same can be said for the post-trick-or-treat finger foods served at a Fright Night party.Sure, you could set the table with an array of chips and dips or offer a big bowl of pretzels for snacking. But if you really want something that’s scary good, take a few extra minutes and whip up a ghoulish treat that conjures up one of the holiday’s most popular monsters — a mummy?It’s easier than you might think.A “mummy” wrapped baked brie with homemade cranberry jam is the perfect Halloween appetizer. (Gretchen McKay/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS)All you need is a wheel of brie, a sheet of frozen puff pastry, a half-cup or so of your favorite red jam and a sharp knife to cut the rolled-out dough into strips of “cloth” to wrap the cheese up with its telltale bandages.This kid-friendly recipe only takes about a half-...

Kids return to school, plan to trick-or-treat as Maine community starts to heal from mass shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

By DAVID SHARP (Associated Press)LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Children returned to schools and planned to go trick-or-treating Tuesday evening as the community of Lewiston tried to return to normal after sheltering indoors for days while authorities hunted for the man responsible for the deadliest mass shooting in Maine’s history.Hundreds of students were back in class at Lewiston High School, petting therapy dogs and signing a large banner that read “Lewiston Strong” — the community’s new motto. Days earlier, the campus had been transformed into a law enforcement command post with three helicopters utilizing the athletic fields and 300 vehicles filling the parking lot.“Today’s going to be hard,” said Superintendent Jake Langlais. “But I think there’s strength in gathering, in unity, in getting back together.”Jayden Sands, a 15-year-old sophomore, said one of his football coaches lost four friends, one of his best fri...

Massive windfarm project to be built off Virginia coast gains key federal approval

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — A power company’s plans for an enormous offshore wind farm off Virginia’s coast gained key federal approval Tuesday after the Biden Administration evaluated the project’s potential impact on the environment. Dominion Energy received what’s called a favorable “record of decision” from the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The agency considered efforts to minimize effects on marine life, such as endangered North Atlantic right whales, among other factors. The utility will still need federal approval of its construction and operation plans before more pilings rise above the Atlantic Ocean. Two pilot turbines have been in place since 2020. Dominion plans to build 176 turbines more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) off the coast from the hotels and touristy boardwalk of Virginia Beach. Dominion said its project will be the largest offshore wind farm under development in the United States. The project is expected to generate 2.6 giga...

North Carolina’s top elevator official says he’ll no longer include his portrait in every lift

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — After slapping their mug inside every elevator in the state, an elected North Carolina regulator will go back to being faceless.Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson’s face stares at many elevator riders in the state, following a predecessor who started the practice in the mid-2000s of placing her photo on inspection certificates. But he recently put an end to elevating the image of people in his position.Dobson told WRAL-TV on Monday he authorized removing the photo to make space for a new sentence on the elevator safety forms that mark each inspection. Over time, the new forms will make their way into elevators statewide as new inspections are completed.Dobson said he never really embraced the photo op, which made people focus more on him instead of the Department of Labor employees who served under him. He said he wants to focus “on them and the hard work they do,” the TV station reported.Predecessor Cherie Berry — a Republican like Dobson — pioneered the elev...

Connecticut officer who shocked shoplifting suspect 3 times is charged with assault, cruelty

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

NAUGATUCK, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut police officer who shocked a shoplifting suspect three times with a stun gun, including when the man was on the ground apologizing, has been charged with third-degree assault and cruelty.Naugatuck Officer Nicholas Kehoss turned himself in to state police on Monday after an arrest warrant was issued, state police said Tuesday. He is free after posting a $50,000 bond and is due in court on Nov. 8. Kehoss did not return emails Monday or Tuesday seeking comment.The officer became the subject of an investigation after a body camera video showed him chasing Jarell Day, 33, of Waterbury, into a field on Oct. 14 and shocking him three times with a stun gun, including when the man was on the ground apologizing.The video, released Monday also shows Kehoss telling Day to “shut up” and calling him an “idiot” during the arrest.Police said Day was suspected of stealing $200 worth of beer in a robbery at a Naugatuck grocery store and later rammed police cruise...

Amnesty International says Israeli forces wounded Lebanese civilians with white phosphorus

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — The human rights group Amnesty International said Tuesday that civilians in southern Lebanon were injured this month when Israeli forces hit a border village with shells containing white phosphorus, a controversial incendiary munition.The organization said it verified three other instances of Israel’s military dropping white phosphorus on Lebanese border areas in the past month, but Amnesty said it did not document any harm to civilians in those cases. Human rights advocates say the use of white phosphorus is illegal under international law when the white-hot chemical substance is fired into populated areas. It can set buildings on fire and burn human flesh down to the bone. Survivors are at risk of infections and organ or respiratory failure, even if their burns are small. After an Oct. 16 Israeli strike in the town of Duhaira, houses and cars caught fire and nine civilians were rushed to the hospital with breathing problems from the fumes, Amnesty said. The gro...

Ontario childcare centres concerned about keeping doors open as costs balloon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

Ontario childcare centres are raising concerns about the ballooning costs of operating in what’s being described as an underfunded system.Amy O’Neil, who is the executive director of Treetop Children’s Centre in Midtown tells CityNews she has reached a tipping point and if more funding doesn’t come in soon, she and many other childcare centres will be forced to close.“This is a crisis … it’s absolutely critical that all levels of government listen to the child care sector. This money is not enough,” said O’Neil.Unable to keep up with inflation, she said their accountant has given them two to three years before they’ll be forced to shut down.“We cannot continue our operations at the funding level that we’re currently operating at, and centres will close.”With a major shortage of child care spaces, they are closures the province cannot afford.As of now, Ontario childcare centres that have opted in to the $10/day daycare...

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TGL to feature 15-hole matches, overtime and lots of technology

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are bringing modern technology to the royal and ancient game with TGL, a team-based golf league played over 15 holes that combines an oversized simulator with actual shots to a tech-infused green that can change contours depending on the shot.Fourteen months after it was announced, and two months before TGL launches at newly constructed SoFi Center in Florida, the league on Tuesday provided details on just what it is and how it works.Five of the six four-man teams have been announced for New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Atlanta.The prime-time matches on ESPN platforms (ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN+) will be between two teams, each activating three players for the match.The opening nine holes will be called “triples” — alternate shot for the three players, with one point awarded for winning a hole, no carryovers if there is a tie. The final six holes will be singles, with each team member playing two holes.Any match ending in a tie goes to overtim...

Chick-fil-A looking at Austin-area expansion, company says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Chick-fil-A is looking to expand in the Austin area, the company said Tuesday.In a statement to KXAN, Chick-fil-A said it is early in the process of "actively pursuing a new location in the Northwest Austin area." RELATED: Robotic servers spotted at Austin Chick-fil-A Project records from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation show the chicken company is planning a restaurant at the intersection of RM 620 and Anderson Mill Road. The planning records, which are subject to change, show the restaurant is expected to open in 2025. "We are excited by the prospect of joining this neighborhood, where each locally owned and operated restaurant creates 80 – 120 jobs," the Chick-fil-A statement read in part. According to Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation records, the $1.2 million project will include a drive-thru.Chick-fil-A has more than a dozen restaurants in the Austin area.