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Marina owner convicted in fatal 2008 boat crash settles new environmental protection case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire woman convicted of killing her best friend in a boat crash on Lake Winnipesaukee 15 years ago has agreed to pay the state $100,000 to settle new allegations that she interfered with an environmental protection investigation at the marina she owns.The attorney general and state Department of Environmental Services announced the settlement with Erica Blizzard, owner of Lakeport Landing Marina in Laconia, on Thursday. According to authorities, marina employees severed a fuel line while repairing a dock in August 2021, failed to adequately notify the state, and continued to dispense fuel after a making a faulty repair. Blizzard was accused of hindering the state’s investigation into the fuel line damage until confronted several weeks later.Blizzard, did not admit to the allegations in settling the case. Her attorney, Biron Bedard, said Thursday the settlement represents “the cost of the litigation.”“The allegations recited in the press release ...

Week 1 HS football preview

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

One could forgive Xaverian coach Al Fornaro if he requested an Everett scorecard to see who is coaching the Crimson Tide.For the third time in his seven years at the helm, Fornaro will lead the Hawks into the season opener Friday night (7:30 at the Hawk Bowl) against an Everett team with a new coach in Justin Flores.“Certainly it is easier when you go up against a team whose coach has been there for a while because you do know a lot of their tendencies,” Fornaro said. “We know (Flores) comes in having coached in college and he has a new staff. We did exchange tapes so we’ll see what we can pick up from there.”While Flores’ coaching resume is primarily at the college ranks, he knows how big the annual Everett-Xaverian game is. What he is trying to do is make sure the game doesn’t get too big for his younger players.“We’ve been telling the kids to treat this like it’s just another game,” said Flores, who spent six years coaching at the University of Maine...

As John Means returns, Orioles pitchers who had Tommy John surgery detail the recovery: ‘You just have to trust it’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

Danny Coulombe flashed the inside of his left elbow proudly.The scar across his pitching elbow represents his membership over a decade ago into the fraternity of pitchers who have gotten Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery.“Webby’s got one, too,” Coulombe said, motioning to the pitcher sitting to his right in the Orioles’ clubhouse at Angel Stadium.Jacob Webb, as Coulombe had just done, showed off the scar on his pitching elbow.The two relievers are among the many across the majors — and the few in the Orioles’ clubhouse — to have the surgery that’s saved the careers of hundreds of professional pitchers. Another will soon join their ranks.John Means, the Orioles’ ace during the rebuild, is expected to be activated off the injured list this weekend after missing the past 16 months recovering from the surgery.“Ooh, John’s got a nice one,” Coulombe said about Means’ scar.The procedure, whose namesake had ...

Flight delayed? Here’s the script I used to get compensation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

By Sally French | NerdWalletU.S. airlines aren’t required to compensate passengers for flight delays. Refunds are only guaranteed for entirely canceled flights (assuming the passenger opts not to be rebooked by the airline). There’s also no legal requirement for airlines to offer additional flight delay compensation.That said, most U.S. airlines have pledged to provide additional services or amenities to customers affected by disrupted flights, as documented in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s customer service dashboard. But those pledged amenities can be semi-stingy. While every major U.S. airline offers meal vouchers for delays of three hours or more, only Alaska Airlines promises frequent flyer miles.I’ve had two flight mishaps this year — yet both times I got compensation above what the U.S. government requires, and greater than what the airlines pledged.Here’s the script I used to get travel vouchers, bonus miles and a free meal.Southwest delayed flight compensation: a m...

Helicopters airlift residents to safety from deadly floods in central Greece

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Severe rainstorms eased but floodwaters were still rising in parts of central Greece Friday, while fire department and military helicopters were plucking people from villages inundated by tons of water and mud that have left six dead, six missing and many people clinging to the roofs of their homes.Flooding triggered by rainstorms also hit neighboring Bulgaria and Turkey, killing a total of 18 people in all three countries since the rains began Tuesday.In Greece, severe rainstorms that lashed the country turned streams into raging torrents that burst dams, washed away roads and bridges and hurled cars into the sea. Authorities said some areas received twice the average annual rainfall for Athens in the space of just 12 hours.Evacuation orders were issued for two areas north of the city of Larissa Friday morning, with authorities sending alerts to cell phones in the area warning that the Pineios River had burst its banks. Parts of Larissa, one of Greece’s ...

Germany will keep Russian oil giant Rosneft subsidiaries under its control for another 6 months

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The German government said Friday it will keep two subsidiaries of Russian oil giant Rosneft under the control of German authorities for another six months.The government announced a year ago that it was putting Rosneft Deutschland GmbH and Rosneft Refining and Marketing GmbH under the administration of Germany’s Federal Network Agency. In March, a German federal court threw out complaints from Rosneft and upheld the decision.The trusteeship gave German authorities control of three Russian-owned refineries. Rosneft accounted at the time for about 12% of Germany’s oil refining capacity.The Economy Ministry said Friday that it is extending the trusteeship again until March 10, 2024, “to secure the energy supply.”The Rosneft subsidiaries own a refinery at Schwedt, on the Polish border northeast of Berlin, which provides petroleum products for the capital and much of northeastern Germany. Until the end of 2022, it largely processed Russian oil. It now receives oil from the...

The operation could start soon to rescue a sick American researcher 3,000 feet into a Turkish cave

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

ANTALYA, Turkey (AP) — An American researcher who fell ill almost 1,000 meters (more than 3,000 feet) below the entrance of a cave in Turkey, has recovered sufficiently enough to be extracted in an operation that could last three or four days, a Turkish official was quoted as saying on Friday.Mark Dickey, a 40-year-old experienced caver, became suddenly ill with stomach bleeding during an expedition with a handful of others in the Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains. Rescuers from across Europe have rushed to the cave for an operation to save him, including a Hungarian doctor, who reached and treated him.“The doctors we sent down were very successful in treating him,” Cenk Yildiz, a regional official from Turkey’s disaster relief agency, told the IHA news agency. “We are now in a position to evacuate him.”“This is a difficult operation. It would take a (healthy) person 16 hours to come out. This operation will last at least three or four days,” Yildiz continued. “Our pr...

Russian missile attack kills policeman, injures 44 others in Zelenskyy’s hometown in central Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian missile attack Friday on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown in central Ukraine killed one policeman and injured at least 44 others, emergency officials said. It was among multiple Russian attacks across the country overnight, officials said.Ten buildings were damaged in the attack on Kryvyi Rih. Three of the people who were pulled out of the rubble were in serious condition, according to Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine’s minister of Internal Affairs. Photos posted by Klymenko on Telegram showed a building on fire and emergency services evacuating the injured.Three people were also injured in a Russian missile attack in the eastern city of Sumy, Klymenko said. Russian forces also struck the Odesa region in the west with drones for the fifth time in a week, regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said. No casualties were reported.The southern region of Mykolaiv was also targeted, Gov. Vitalii Kim said on Telegram. Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said on...

Inside the renovated White House Situation Room: Cutting-edge tech, mahogany and that new car smell

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House Situation Room — a space of great mystique and even greater secrecy — just got a $50 million facelift. Actually, “room” is a misnomer. It’s a 5,500-square-foot (511-square-meter), highly secure complex of conference rooms and offices on the ground floor of the West Wing.These are the rooms where history happens, where the president meets with national security officials to discuss secret operations and sensitive government matters, speaks with foreign leaders and works through major national security crises. Where President Barack Obama and his team watched the raid that took down al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in 2011. Where President Donald Trump monitored the 2019 operation that killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Where President Lyndon Johnson went over Vietnam War plans. This was no small update: The total gut renovation took a year to complete.The White House opened the classified space to a group of reporters this week fo...

Hurricane Lee now a Category 5 storm, expected to maintain strength

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (WFLA) — Hurricane Lee tore through open waters toward the northeast Caribbean late Thursday becoming the first Category 5 storm of the Atlantic season.Lee was not expected to make landfall although forecasters said tropical storm conditions are possible on some islands. Meteorologists said it was too early to provide details on potential rainfall and wind gusts. Hurricane Lee: ‘Powerful’ Category 5 storm expected to maintain intensity, NHC says The Category 5 hurricane was located about 630 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands. It had winds of up to 165 miles per hour and was moving west-northwest at 14 mph.The storm is expected to remain a major hurricane into next week.“Lee continues to strengthen at an exceptional rate,” the National Hurricane Center said."Hurricane Lee continues to strengthen and may reach 180 mph max winds as it travels to the north of the Leeward Islands," said WFLA meteorologist Leigh Spann. "While the long-range forecast ...