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As flames swallowed Maui, survivors made harrowing escapes

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:48:12 GMT

An immigrant cook building a new life. A widow preparing to say goodbye. And a couple taking their vows.All were caught in the crossfire, forced to flee as flames swallowed parts of Maui, that drop in the Pacific where roads wind past waterfalls, turtles glide through gem-blue waters and a volcano towers overhead.These are the stories of the survivors:___By the time Marlon Vasquez heard the alarms, there was only time to run.The 31-year-old cook shouted for his brother and opened the door of their Lahaina rental home to thick smoke and intense heat.“The fire was almost on top of us,” he said.The two sprinted. And, running on for what felt like an eternity, a hellscape unfurled. Day turned to night as smoke blotted out the sun, occasionally bared as a red orb. Roads clogged with cars. People dove into the Pacific. At one point, the flames chased him as strong winds blew them down a mountainside. The air was so black he vomited.“We ran and ran. We ran almost the whole night and into t...

Video shows deadly end to Connecticut police chase as officer shoots man in vehicle

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:48:12 GMT

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Body-camera video released Friday shows the bloody end of a frenzied police chase in Connecticut, where a man trying to escape in a stolen car was attacked by a police dog, then killed by an officer inside the moving vehicle as he screamed for help.Tuesday’s fatal shooting of Mike Alexander-Garcia, 34, is under investigation by Connecticut’s Office of Inspector General, which released surveillance, dashboard and body-camera video from the scene.The chaotic sequence of events that led to the shooting started when West Hartford police received word that a stolen Hyundai Elantra had been spotted near a mall, officials said.Officers tried to stop the Elantra but it kept going and hit two cars, according to the inspector general’s preliminary report. The Hyundai became disabled. Two men got out and ran.One of the men was apprehended, but the second, Alexander-Garcia, fled on foot and tried unsuccessfully to carjack two vehicles, authorities s...

Devastation comes to light as Maui residents slowly return to charred remains of historic town

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:48:12 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Incinerated cars crushed by downed telephone poles. Charred elevator shafts standing as testaments to the burned down apartment buildings they once served. Pools filled with charcoal colored water. Trampolines and children’s scooters mangled by the extreme heat.Residents of the Lahaina were being allowed back home on Friday for the first time since wildfires that have killed at least 55 people turned large swaths of the centuries-old town into a hellscape of ashen rubble.Associated Press journalists witnessed the devastation, with nearly every building flattened to debris on Front Street, the heart of the Maui community and the economic hub of the island. The roosters known to roam Hawaii streets meandered through the ashes of what was left, including an eerie traffic jam of the charred remains of dozens of cars that didn’t make it out of the inferno.“It hit so quick, it was incredible,” Lahaina resident Kyle Scharnhorst said as he surveyed his apartment...

Stock market today: Wall Street ends mixed, closing out another losing week

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:48:12 GMT

BEIJING — A choppy day of trading on Wall Street ended Friday with an uneven finish for the major stock indexes, as mixed economic data stoked worries that the Federal Reserve’s work on bringing inflation to heel isn’t done.The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% after wavering between small gains and losses most of the day. The benchmark index fell 0.3% for the week, its second consecutive losing week. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.7%, reflecting a pullback in big tech companies. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a 0.3% gain.Stocks lost ground in the early going after the Labor Department reported Friday that its producer price index, which measures inflation before it hits consumers, rose 0.8% last month from July 2022. The latest figure followed a 0.2% year-over-year increase in June, which had been the smallest annual rise since August 2020.While modest, the increase in wholesale prices last month could help persuade the Federal Reserve that more rate increases are necessary to lower...

S&P/TSX composite index posts gain Friday to cap positive week, U.S. markets mixed

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:48:12 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock market index ticked higher on Friday to cap a week of gains, while U.S. markets were mixed.“It has been a bit of a rebound week,” said Michael Currie, senior investment adviser at TD Wealth, after last week saw a rough start to the month of August. Markets seem a little more optimistic than they did last week, he said. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite ended Friday up 0.85 per cent on the week, closing up 64.76 points on Friday at 20,407.64. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average increased 105.25 points to 35,281.40. The S&P 500 index dipped 4.78 points to 4,464.05, while the Nasdaq composite decreased 93.14 points to 13,644.85.The Nasdaq ended down 1.9 per cent for the week amid a continued selloff in tech after the sector saw a “tremendous start to the year,” said Currie. August is normally one of the worst months on the market as investors engage in some profit-taking around this time of year, he noted. Friday saw a new report on ...

Former candidates plan to run once again in Scarborough-Southwest byelection

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:48:12 GMT

The race to replace former city councillor Gary Crawford in Scarborough-Southwest is on after he resigned to run for MPP.Many of those who ran against Crawford are taking a second shot and putting their names forward for the byelection.Crawford was the councillor for four terms in Scarborough-Southwest and spent the last few years as budget chief at City Hall. He resigned one day ahead of the Scarborough-Guildwood byelection and lost to Liberal candidate Andrea Hazell.Parthi Kandavel finished second behind Crawford by just over 1,300 votes or six points. He tells CityNews he plans to run again because the results in the last election show there is a desire for transformation.“We’re going through tremendous change in Scarborough, the Golden Mile, Kingston Road, a lot of development,” said Kandavel. “I grew up in Scarborough. I live here. I teach here. I want to show the rest of the city how great it is.”“And part of that is ensuring that communitie...

Indiana man indicted in threats made to Michigan clerk following 2020 election

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:48:12 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — A 37-year-old central Indiana man has been indicted in connection with a telephone threat made to a municipal clerk in Michigan following the 2020 presidential election.Andrew Nickels, of Carmel, a suburb of Indianapolis, appeared Friday in federal court in Detroit on one count of making a threatening interstate communication, the U.S. Justice Department said in a release.Nickels pleaded not guilty and was released Friday on a $10,000 bond, his attorney Steven Scharg said.The case is part of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force launched in 2021 to address threats of violence against election workers and to ensure they are able to do their jobs free from intimidation, the Justice Department said.Scharg told The Associated Press he does not yet have any details of the case from prosecutors, but added “knowing my client, there’s no way in the world he would hurt anyone.”An expletive-laced voicemail was left on or about Nov. 10, 2020, threatening to ...

Canadian evacuees tell of chaotic scenes in Maui wildfire ‘war zone’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:48:12 GMT

VANCOUVER — Canadians returning from Maui have told of harrowing scenes during their escape from the fire-devastated Hawaiian island.Among the evacuees was British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Matthew Taylor who drove through the ruined town of Lahaina on Thursday and said it resembled a “war zone.”Taylor, who arrived in Vancouver Friday morning on an Air Canada ferry flight, said buildings on both sides of the highway out of Lahaina had been “razed to the ground.”“Driving through Lahaina was absolutely shocking. It was really, really sad,” said Taylor. Officials in Hawaii say at least 55 people died this week after wildfires erupted on Maui in the state’s deadliest natural disaster since a 1960 tsunami killed 61 people. Governor Josh Green has warned that the death toll will likely rise as search and rescue operations continue.Taylor had travelled to Maui with his family for a vacation on Monday night, staying north of Lahaina. They arrived to ...

Some news outlets report difficulty posting on Meta apps amid restriction rollout

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:48:12 GMT

TORONTO — News outlets have been unable to post on Meta’s social media sites some or all of the time since the digital giant began rolling out its restrictions on Canadian news in response to federal legislation. CBC has noticed inconsistencies when posting on Facebook and Instagram, including instances where content submitted does not get posted, said CBC spokesperson Kerry Kelly in an email. At Bell, which owns CTV, some account users are still able to post to the brand’s accounts, while others cannot, a spokesperson said. But not all outlets are experiencing this problem. The Toronto Star is still able to post on its Meta accounts, said spokesperson Bob Hepburn in an email. Staff at the Winnipeg Free Press are also able to post on the outlet’s Facebook and Instagram pages, editor Paul Samyn confirmed, though only people from outside Canada can view the posts. Meta did not respond to requests for comment about companies unable to post. It has previously directed questions about th...

US appeals court dismisses motion challenging permits for natural gas pipeline

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:48:12 GMT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court on Friday granted a motion to dismiss a challenge to construction permits for a controversial natural gas pipeline in Virginia and West Virginia after Congress mandated that the project move forward.The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, sided with lawyers from Mountain Valley Pipeline in dismissing challenges to the project by environmental groups over concerns about the pipeline’s impact on endangered species, erosion and stream sedimentation.The U.S. Supreme Court last month allowed construction to resume. Work had been blocked by the 4th Circuit, even after Congress ordered the project’s approval as part of the bipartisan bill to increase the debt ceiling. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law in June.Lawyers for the pipeline argued before the appeals court two weeks ago that Congress was within its rights to strip the 4th Circuit from jurisdiction over the case. They also said that any debate over the...