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Lahaina residents brace for what they’ll find as they return to devastated properties in burn zone

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:50 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Soon after one of Maui’s Japanese Buddhist temples, the Lahaina Hongwanji Mission, burned in the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, its resident minister was desperate to go back and see what remained.Six weeks later, he’s more hesitant.“Now I feel like I have to have mental preparation to go there,” the Rev. Ai Hironaka said. “I’m kind of afraid.”Hironaka and other Lahaina residents are grappling with a range of emotions as Maui authorities plan next week to begin allowing some on supervised visits back into the areas devastated by the Aug. 8 fire, which killed at least 97 people and demolished thousands of buildings.Lana Vierra is bracing to see the ruins of the home where she raised five children, a house that started with three bedrooms in 1991 and was expanded to six to accommodate her extended family as the cost of living in Hawaii soared.She’s been telling her family to be ready when it’s their turn, so that they can all visit to...

Hollywood actor and writer strikes have broad support among Americans, AP-NORC poll shows

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:50 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Public support for striking Hollywood actors and writers is broad, but not necessarily deep enough for most people to change their viewing habits, a new poll finds.A majority (55%) of U.S. adults sympathize with the writers and actors in the months-long dispute than with the studios they’re striking against (3%), the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows.Half of Americans (50%) approve of writers and actors striking, while 40% are neutral on the topic, and 9% disapprove. The more people said they had heard about the strike, the more likely they were to favor it. About six in 10 Americans have heard “a lot” or “some” about the labor strikes of writers and actors against Hollywood studios. People who have heard “a lot” or “some” about the strike are more likely than those who have heard less to approve (63% vs. 29%).“I’m a big supporter of labor,” said one respondent, James Denton of Louisville, Kentucky, who said he stro...

WTOP Top Kid: Bethesda teen serves breakfasts to those in need

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:50 GMT

Carter Jillings, 15, volunteers with a program to serve breakfasts to those in need. (Courtesy Matt Jillings) Carter Jillings, 15, volunteers with a program to serve breakfasts to those in need. (Courtesy Matt Jillings) Now through Oct. 27, 2023, WTOP is accepting nominations for the WTOP TOP Kids program sponsored by Northwest Federal Credit Union. In addition to being featured on-air and online, winning kids also get a chance at $500.While many 15-year-olds spend their time hanging out with friends or playing video games on the weekend, Carter Jillings of Bethesda, Maryland, has been spending some of his time helping people in his community experiencing homelessness.The sophomore at Georgetown Prep has spent sev...

Today in History: September 22, Lincoln issues preliminary Emancipation Proclamation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:50 GMT

Today in History Today is Friday, Sept. 22, the 265th day of 2023. There are 100 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Sept. 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in rebel states should be free as of January 1, 1863 if the states did not end the fighting and rejoin the union. On this date: In 1776, during the Revolutionary War, Capt. Nathan Hale, 21, was hanged as a spy by the British in New York. In 1911, pitcher Cy Young, 44, gained his 511th and final career victory as he hurled a 1-0 shutout for the Boston Rustlers against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field.In 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb. In 1961, the Interstate Commerce Commission issued rules prohibiting racial discrimination on interstate buses. In 1975, Sara Jane Moore attempted to shoot President Gerald R. Ford outside a San Francisco hotel, but missed. In 1980, the Persian Gulf conflict between Iran and Iraq...

Music Review: On ‘Scarlet,’ Doja Cat’s demons demand attention — as if it was possible to look away

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:50 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Before Doja Cat, the adventurous and often absurdist rap phenomenon born from internet celebrity, released her stellar fourth full-length album, the take-no-prisoners “Scarlet,” she bit the hand that feeds.Sort of.On social media, she told her followers, who call themselves “kittenz” to “get a job.” A few of her fan pages demanded an apology and then deactivated their accounts when it wasn’t received. No stranger to bucking convention, Doja Cat had inspired conversation about celebrity and the fans that make them that way. Did she owe them anything? Were they wrong to assume she did?“Attention” was the first single she dropped — a biting treatise on parasocial relationships, particularly, the one between her fans and herself. The sonics amplify the delivery: a ‘90s hip-hop beat, the opening lines of the first verse: “Look at me / Look at me,” and a break before “You lookin’?” Fame has its demons, and it’s usually the source material for very unimaginative pop musi...

Chicago Cubs fall into a tie for the No. 3 wild-card spot with an 8-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates: ‘We’ve got to turn it around’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:50 GMT

The calendar is working against the Chicago Cubs.The Cubs’ postseason hopes could not afford a series loss to the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates, yet their spiral continued Thursday with an 8-6 defeat at Wrigley Field. They have dropped 10 of their last 13 games and lost four consecutive series for first time since May.The Cubs enter Friday tied with the Miami Marlins for the No. 3 National League wild-card spot, but the Marlins own the tiebreaker.The Cubs (79-74) went 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base.“That’s not a good team that just took two of three from us — or not our caliber team, I believe — and we’ve got to turn it around,” manager David Ross said. “It’s on me. It’s on the guys in that room.”“When things aren’t going your way, you’ve got to turn it, you’ve got to make things happen. You’ve got to pay attention to details. We’ve got to focus every at-ba...

Parking meters being installed in Pacific Beach

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:50 GMT

SAN DIEGO – Parking meters are beginning to be installed this week in the business district as part of a pilot program.“They weren’t here last night, so they definitely were a shock this morning a little bit,” said Griffin Borman, who works at nearby Shop Meta.The program was approved by the Pacific Beach Community Planning Group in 2020 and San Diego City Council in 2021.The areas where people will see the meters include along Garnet Avenue between Mission Boulevard and Fanuel Street as well as some parts of Cass Street, Hornblend Street and Bayard Street.“Right now if you look at Garnet Avenue, especially on a weekend, it’s ultimately kind of a parking lot. Cars aren’t really incentivized to move,” said Eric Marenburg, president of Discover Pacific Beach. City of Encinitas moves forward with purchase of ‘Hippie Hill’ for $6 million Marenburg says several community stakeholders were part of the parking advisory board to help implement this project. With meters largely focused in ...

Some crossings on US-Mexico border still shut as cities, agents confront rise in migrant arrivals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:50 GMT

EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) — The week began in Eagle Pass with rumors that large crowds of migrants might show up. On Friday, the small Texas border city was scrambling: nearly 9,000 asylum-seekers and counting had crossed from Mexico, an international bridge remained closed and a 3-year-old boy had drowned in the Rio Grande. “Before we would hear rumors, nothing happened,” Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber said. “But this time something happened.”The unfolding response in Eagle Pass, where the mayor declared a state of emergency, illustrates how Border Patrol agents have become overwhelmed in recent days by asylum-seekers on parts of the U.S. border with Mexico. In San Diego and El Paso, Texas, officials this week also closed border crossings so agents could help with the influx. After a dip in illegal crossings that followed new asylum restrictions in May, President Joe Biden’s administration is again on its heels. Democratic mayors and governors are seeking more relief for ...

The Big Story is Above Normal Temperatures with a "Rex Block" Pattern Developing; Tropical Storm "Ophelia" threatens East Coast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:50 GMT

Weather-slowing REX BLOCK which is to develop and hold over North America over the coming week. REX BLOCKS are often called "HIGH OVER LOW" blocks because they occur when a broad area of high pressure/warm air loft is located north of LOW PRESSURE to the south.A "spaghetti plot" of a series of computer storm track forecasts for "Ophelia"Tropical weather systems, like the one developing along and off the Southeast U.S. coast, derive moisture and critical latent heat energy from the warm ocean waters—like those we see in these ocean analyses out of CIMSS at the University of Wisconsin-MadisonBoth of these graphics and analyses are courtesy of CIMSS (the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison:Seasons on Earth ARE DUE TO EARTH'S ORBIT OF THE SUN and the tilt of Earth on its axis relative to the SunThis ORBIT AND AXIS TILT results in a shift in the amount of sunlight which falls on Earth at different times of the year.As we appr...

Culture Moves Europe: International, diverse, and here to stay

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:50 GMT

The largest EU cultural mobility scheme is about to re-open two calls. After its launch; only eight months ago, Culture Moves Europe has already supported more than 1,800 grantees and enabled more than 35,000 days of cultural and artistic project implementation between Creative Europe countries.During the first Call for Individual Mobility, more than 4,500 artists and cultural professionals have applied for support from the most recent and significant initiative of the European Union for the artistic sector.  Choosing one of the core Culture Moves Europe objectives (to explore, to create, to learn, and to connect), more than 1,800 grantees have been selected to implement their projects in the 40 participating countries.   But who are Culture Moves Europe’s grantees?  The grantees are artists and cultural professionals active in at least one of the following sectors: architecture, cultural heritage, design and fashion design, literature, music, performing arts and visual arts. The gr...