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State House evacuated due to electrical fire, will remain closed on Wednesday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:50 GMT

The Massachusetts State House will remain closed on Wednesday after a fire in a transformer room prompted an evacuation Tuesday afternoon, officials said. Massachusetts State Police said the building was evacuated and nearly all surrounding streets on Beacon Hill were closed as crews responded to what appeared to be an electrical fire that broke out around 2:15 p.m. in a sub-basement at the capitol building.In an update Tuesday evening, Superintendent of the State House Tammy Kraus said the building will be closed “Out of an abundance of caution while details of today’s fire continue to be investigated.”“We’re grateful for the efforts of the Boston Fire Department, Mass State Police and DCR Rangers to ensure the safety of all officials, staff and visitors and are working diligently to reopen the building as quickly and safely as possible,” Kraus said.Smoke was largely not visible outside the State House on Tuesday. Inside, though, state police spo...

Video shows cement truck tip over at construction site in Taunton

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:50 GMT

New video shows the moment a cement truck tipped over at a construction site in Taunton Tuesday, sending workers in the area rushing to safety. The incident happened Tuesday morning near Jefferson Street. SKY7-HD was later over the scene, showing the truck resting on its side. Taunton fire officials said the truck’s driver was able to get out of the truck without help before being taken to an area hospital as a precaution.Everyone else was able to get out of the way as the truck started to roll.

Texas heat wave has inmates’ families worried about lack of air conditioning in state’s prisons

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:50 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A heat wave that has consistently pushed temperatures well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius) across much of Texas this summer had family members of inmates on Tuesday calling for lawmakers to ensure that all of the state’s prisons are fully air conditioned.“They’re cooking our inmates in the Texas prison system,” said Tona Southards Naranjo, who believes the death last month of her son, Jon Southards, was caused by excessive heat in his prison, the Estelle Unit in Huntsville. Naranjo was one of more than 60 people who attended a rally outside the Texas Capitol on Tuesday.Advocates and others have been highly critical of the lack of air conditioning in the nation’s largest prison system, alleging temperatures that often go past 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.9 degrees Celsius) inside Texas prisons in the summer have been responsible for hundreds of inmate deaths in recent years. Only about 30% of Texas’ 100 prison units are fully air conditioned, wi...

British Columbia’s record-breaking wildfire season, by the numbers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:50 GMT

British Columbia’s wildfire season is now the most destructive on record, with about 14,000 square kilometres of the province burned, surpassing the previous high of 13,543 square kilometres set in 2018.Here are some statistics about the current season from the BC Wildfire Service website, as of 6 p.m. Pacific time, July 18.Total area burned: 14,100 square kilometresFires currently burning: 381, including 21 fires of noteNew fires in past 24 hours: 23Out-of-control fires: 251Total number of fires this season: 1,203Causes of all fires: Lightning, 65 per cent;  humans (deliberate and accidental) 29 per cent; unknown, 6 per cent.Biggest single fire: Donnie Creek fire, northeastern B.C., 5,831 square kilometres This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2023.The Canadian Press

B.C.’s wildfire season is most destructive on record and hasn’t peaked yet: minister

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:50 GMT

VANCOUVER — British Columbia hasn’t yet hit the “peak” of its wildfire season, but it has already broken the record for the total area burned in a year, the province’s minister of emergency management said.Officials are now eyeing the prospect of drought-driven conditions rolling into 2024, setting the stage for a similarly disastrous fire season unless there is “significant precipitation” in winter, Bowinn Ma said on Tuesday.“It is significant and there’s likely more to come,” Ma said on Tuesday. “We know that the road ahead of us is long, complex and challenging.”The BC Wildfire Service website said that 14,100 square kilometres have been burned since April 1, as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, surpassing the previous full-year record of 13,543 square kilometres set in 2018. The service was reporting about 400 fires currently burning and 21 fires of note, where they are a threat to safety or are especially visible to the public....

First-gen iPhone sells at auction for $190K – about 380 times its original price

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:50 GMT

A first-generation iPhone has sold at auction for $190,373, almost 380 times its original price of $499 when the groundbreaking device went for sale in 2007.LCG Auctions, which hosted Sunday’s sale, said the 4GB iPhone model was 20 times rarer than the 8GB model released at the same time for $599. That’s largely because the 4GB model was discontinued two months after launch given customer preference for the larger memory size.“A new bar was set Sunday night,” said Mark Montero, the founder of LCG Auctions. “We are thrilled to be a part of this fantastic record breaking sale.”It is the third original iPhone to sell for record prices at auction in the past year. An 8GB model sold for $63,356 in February and another 8GB model fetched $39,340 in October 2022. All were factory sealed in their original packaging.The iPhone is one of the world’s most successful electronic products and helped make Apple the first publicly held company with a $3 trillion market value....

Alaska man inadvertently films his own drowning on a glacial lake with helmet GoPro, officials say

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:50 GMT

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska man inadvertently filmed his own drowning on a glacial lake with a GoPro camera mounted on his helmet, but authorities who recovered the camera have not yet found his body, officials said Tuesday.Alaska State Troopers said teams would continue to search Mendenhall Lake for the body of Paul Rodriguez Jr., 43, of Juneau.Troopers said a helmet with a camera attached to it that was confirmed to have belonged to Rodriguez was recording on July 11 when his kayak overturned and he went into the water. “The recording continued showing that the kayak overturned due to a strong current coming from the glacier,” Troopers spokesperson Tim DeSpain said by email.DeSpain said the helmet was found on the lakeshore. He said it was turned in to troopers on Monday.Juneau police on Monday said Rodriguez was believed to have gone missing on July 11 somewhere in the vicinity of the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area. Police received a report Sunday from U.S. Forest Service...

A strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake in the Pacific Ocean shakes Central America

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:50 GMT

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — A powerful 6.5 magnitude earthquake in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of El Salvador shook much of Central America from Nicaragua to Guatemala on Tuesday, sending residents in some cities streaming into the streets.The U.S. Geological Survey reported the epicenter was 27 miles (43 kilometers) south of Intipuca, El Salvador at a depth of 43 miles (70 kilometers). That point is outside the Gulf of Fonseca where Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua all share coastline.In El Salvador’s capital, residents ran into the streets as the ground shook, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. When a radio station open its phone lines to residents around the country, there was also no immediate report of victims.In the country’s Legislative Assembly, lawmakers fled their desks to get out of the building, before returning a short time later to resume the session.The country’s Environment Ministry advised that there was no threat of a...

A car-sized object that washed ashore in western Australia is thought to be space junk

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:50 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Authorities were investigating on Tuesday whether a cylindrical object about the size of a small car that washed up on a remote Australian beach is space junk from a foreign rocket.Police had cordoned off the barnacle-encrusted object after it was discovered at Green Head about 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of the city of Perth late Sunday.The Australian Space Agency said it was liaising with other space agencies to identify the object, which appears to be partly made of a woven material.“The object could be from a foreign space launch vehicle and we are liaising with global counterparts who may be able to provide more information,” the agency tweeted.European Space Agency engineer Andrea Boyd said her colleagues believed the item that washed up from the Indian Ocean fell from an Indian rocket while launching a satellite.“We’re pretty sure, based on the shape and the size, it is an upper-stage engine from an Indian rocket that’s used for a lot of differ...

Florida ban on property purchases by citizens of China and some other countries is challenged

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:50 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A new law that bans citizens of China and some other countries from purchasing property in large swaths of Florida violates federal housing discrimination laws, a lawyer representing Chinese nationals living and working in the state told a federal judge Tuesday. While other states have laws that prevent foreigners from buying agricultural land, American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Ashley Gorski said Florida’s law is extreme and amounts to blanket discrimination against Chinese citizens by equating them to the Chinese Communist Party. She said there is no evidence that Chinese nationals pose a security threat.The ACLU is seeking an injunction to block enforcement of the measure, which went into effect July 1. “This is a highly unusual law,” she told Judge Allen Winsor. “Florida’s law is truly extraordinary.” The law applies to properties within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of military installations and other “critical infrastructure” and also affects...