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Kafer: Weapon targeting dangerous mosquitoes is on the horizon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:33 GMT

West Nile Virus is coming soon to a barbeque near you.Colorado health officials diagnosed the first case of the season late last month in La Plata County. Infected mosquitoes have been detected in Arapahoe, Boulder, Delta, Denver, Larimer, Pueblo and Weld counties. Time to bust out the mosquito repellent. More importantly, dump the stagnant water out of the old tire swing or anyplace where it’s collecting in the yard. Mitigation is the only option until a better solution is found. Fortunately, that solution is on the horizon.Meanwhile, we’re lucky not everyone bitten by a West Nile virus-infected insect will develop symptoms; only 20% will get the fever, aches, swollen lymph nodes, and rash associated with the pathogen, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those who are infected, one in 150 will develop life-threatening neuro-invasive symptoms such as convulsions, inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, weakness, high fever, or paralysis. Although chanc...

Former Iowa kicker charged in gambling sting allegedly won a bet on the 2021 Iowa-Iowa State game

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:33 GMT

A former walk-on kicker at the University of Iowa was charged Wednesday in connection with wagering on Hawkeyes sports events — one day after Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers was accused of committing the same offense at his school.Aaron Blom, who was on the Iowa roster from 2020-22, used a DraftKings Sportsbook account set up under his mother’s name and made about 170 mobile or online sports wagers before he turned 21, the legal gambling age in the state, according to the criminal complaint filed in Johnson County, Iowa.The wagers totaled over $4,400, with about eight placed on Iowa sporting events. One of the bets included the 2021 Iowa-Iowa State football game, according to the complaint.Blom is also accused in the complaint of tampering with records related to an Iowa Criminal Division investigation into sports gambling.The bet Blom placed on the rivalry game was an over-under wager, which requires the bettor to choose whether the teams will combine for more or ...

2 dead as plane crashes, catches fire at Van Nuys Airport

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:33 GMT

A small plane crashed and caught fire at Van Nuys Airport Wednesday morning, killing two people aboard the aircraft.The crash was reported at 10:37 a.m., and shortly after responders arrived at the scene in the 16300 block of Waterman Drive, they put out the blaze, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department."Fire crews quickly extinguished the flames, but, sadly, both occupants on board were found to be deceased," the LAFD added.Footage shared to the Citizen app showed a dark plume of smoke rising from the area.Firefighters extinguished a plane fire in Van Nuys on Aug. 2, 2023. (KTLA)Aerial footage captured by Sky5 showed a large amount of fire retardant around the scorched aircraft.The victims have not been identified.Nancy Fontan contributed to this report.

San Diego Police start enforcing homeless encampment ban

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:33 GMT

The anti-street camping ordinance targeting homeless encampments has now gone into effect in the city of San Diego. Five officers spent Monday morning contacting homeless campers in Balboa Park warning them they are breaking the rules, offering assistance and then ultimately removing their camps. Several people were detained because of prior warrants; others were simply warned.  “It’s not acceptable to be out here living on the streets. It’s not safe, it’s not safe for the individual and it’s not safe for the community,” said Capt. Shawn Takeuchi with San Diego Police Department.  The ordinance prioritizes ending encampments in parks and near schools first. Homeless advocates say the new action is the talk of the homeless community, which is wondering where to go next. “The ordinance is from downtown all the way over to Old Town and now people are heading to the beaches,” said Mama Heather, a homeless advocate. The ordinance says urban camping is simply against the law. An...

Tania Godinez Valencia Killed in Pedestrian Crash on West 17th Street [Santa Ana, CA]

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:33 GMT

17-Year-Old Girl Passed Away after Pedestrian-Auto Collision near English StreetSANTA ANA, CA (August 2, 2023) – Wednesday afternoon, a pedestrian accident on West 17th Street claimed the life of Tania Godinez Valencia.The deadly collision happened on July 10th, at around 2:45 p.m., at the 2000 W. 17th Street and English Street intersection.According to reports, Valencia was hit by a westbound vehicle while crossing the street in a northerly direction.Emergency crews arrived at the site of the accident shortly after. Paramedics transported the victim to a local hospital for treatment of serious injuries.Meanwhile, the involved driver stayed at the scene and cooperated with the investigators. Authorities ruled out intoxication to be a factor in the crash.After two days, the victim was declared dead at the hospital. Santa Ana officials identified the deceased pedestrian as 17-year-old Tania Godinez Valencia.The Department’s Traffic Division is asking anyone with additional infor...

Report: Stanford, Cal, Oregon and Washington under consideration for membership in the Big Ten

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:33 GMT

The Pac-12’s ongoing struggle to land a media rights deal has pushed the conference to the brink of extinction based on the latest development thousands of miles away. The Big Ten is considering membership invitations for Washington, Oregon, Stanford and Cal, according to Yahoo.The website described the situation as preliminary, with four Big Ten presidents engaging in “exploratory” discussions about creating a western division. USC and UCLA are scheduled to join the conference next summer.The news comes one day after Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff presented a media rights deal to his schools — a proposal reportedly centered around a streaming partnership with Apple.Yahoo reported: “The (Big Ten) discussions are in the very early stages, sources caution. No decision, including on whether to expand or stay put at 16 teams, has been made or is considered imminent.”The Big Ten presidents had shown no interest in adding more schools following th...

Feds, East Bay DAs announce results of massive anti-human trafficking operation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:33 GMT

MARTINEZ — Federal and state authorities in the Bay Area arrested nine people and identified 21 victims of human trafficking over a two-week period as part of a national operation, officials announced at a Wednesday news conference.Dubbed Operation Cross Country, the annual anti-human trafficking campaign originated in the Bay Area 13 years ago and has since gone nationwide. At a news conference headed by the FBI and both District Attorney’s offices in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, officials said they couldn’t discuss specific case information, just the numbers.Of the 21 victims identified, four were children and 17 were adults, authorities said. Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton said charges were “forthcoming” against the nine people arrested but hadn’t been filed yet.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | 60 smuggled people found working in ‘horrible’ conditions at illegal Central Valley marijuana plant Crime an...

San Jose: Good Samaritan, Regional Medical Center hospitals listed in cyber attack

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:33 GMT

Two major San Jose hospitals may have been impacted by a wide-ranging cyber attack that exposed patient names, zip codes, phone numbers and other private information from one of America’s largest healthcare providers.The list of affected facilities includes Good Samaritan Hospital and Regional Medical Center, which are both owned by the Tenessee-based HCA Healthcare. The company is still determining whose information was taken in the data breach and letters will soon be mailed to patients who had their information stolen. The hack was discovered on July 5 and a preliminary investigation revealed stolen data was taken from an HCA Healthcare computer system that handles email formatting for patients.Other information that was exposed includes patient emails, dates of birth, gender and appointment dates. Credit card and social security numbers were not stolen.Other facilities in the state that may have been affected by the attack include hospitals in Riverside, Thousand Oaks and ...

EU militaries evacuate foreign nationals from Niger

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:33 GMT

By Sam Mednick | Associated PressNIAMEY, Niger — Foreign nationals lined up outside an airport in Niger’s capital to wait for French military evacuation flights Wednesday as defense officials of a regional bloc gathered to discuss how to respond to last week’s military coup in the West African nation.France, Italy and Spain all have announced evacuations of their citizens and other Europeans in the capital, Niamey, following concerns they could become trapped after soldiers detained democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum and seized power.The West African regional bloc ECOWAS has threatened to use force to restore Bazoum to power, but the military-ruled governments of two of Niger’s neighbors have sided with the coup leaders and warned that they would consider any intervention an act of war.A two-day meeting of defense chiefs of the 15-member bloc opened Wednesday in Nigeria’s capital to discuss next steps. Abdel-Fatau Musah, the ECOWAS commissioner f...

Caltech researchers say fiber optic cables can detect, measure earthquakes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:33 GMT

Thousands of miles of fiber-optic cables, already in place across California, can shake up the study of earthquakes.New research out of Caltech used a section of telecommunication fiber to sense and measure a magnitude 6 earthquake, repurposing the assemblies to extract sharper details about the temblor.Zhongwen Zhan, professor of physics at Caltech, said the same fiber optic network used for internet and television can serve as a dense network of makeshift seismometers in a method called DAS, distributed acoustic sensing.“If we can get broader coverage to measure seismic activity, we can revolutionize how we study earthquakes and provide more advance warning,” Zhan said. “Though we cannot predict earthquakes, distributed acoustic sensing will lead to a better understanding of the details underlying how the earth ruptures.”The new study, published Tuesday in “Nature,” examined the light signatures traveling through a stretch of fiber optic cable in the Eastern Sierra Nevada during t...