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UM’s Gordon Center presents 80 new helmets to Florida Urban Task Forces 1 and 2

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:54 GMT

A local research center is helping first responders make sure they are equipped for action.The Michael S. Gordon Center for Simulation and Innovation in Medical Education at the University of Miami on Wednesday morning provided 80 new helmets to Florida Urban Task Forces 1 and 2.These teams work tirelessly helping people at disaster sites like the Champlain Tower condo collapse in Surfside and the recent wildfire emergency in Maui.“The helmets are essential. Safety is of paramount importance to the team as they deploy to a disaster,” said Brandon Webb, program manager of the Florida Urban Task Force 1. “If we have a member of the team that’s injured, then they’re out of service, they can’t assist with anyone who needs our assistance.”These task forces receive extensive training to prepare them for rapid responses to any emergency all over the world.

Drew Barrymore praises Reneé Rapp for being a protector after audience member encounter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:54 GMT

(CNN) — Drew Barrymore has a new protector.The actress and daytime TV host was at the 92nd Street Y in New York City on Monday for a conversation with singer Reneé Rapp when a man yelled out Barrymore’s name, appearing to startle her.As the man approached the stage, security headed towards him as Rapp put her arm around Barrymore and escorted her backstage, as seen in video widely shared on social media.Afterward, Barrymore and Rapp returned to the stage as people in the audience applauded.“Well, I have a new definition of your sexiness, it’s that level of protectiveness,” Barrymore said to Rapp. “That went full ‘Bodyguard.’”Barrymore than left her chair to embrace Rapp before adding, “You’re my Kevin Costner!” to which Rapp, after laughing, responded, “I’ll be that.”Costner played a bodyguard hired to protect Whitney Houston’s character from a stalker in the 1992 feature film, “The Bodyguard.”CNN has reached out to representatives for Barrymore and Rapp for comment.

Boston officials tour Long Island substance abuse recovery center ahead of planned bridge project

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:54 GMT

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, her two sons and mental health specialists and substance abuse providers took a boat ride to Long Island in Boston Harbor to tour the abandoned recovery center.The island is only accessible by water now, but Wu recently received licensing to build a bridge to the property, which officials toured on Wednesday.Sarah Porter, the Victory Programs executive director, is one of the many who worked on Long Island ten years ago, providing services to people battling drug addiction.“I can’t help but remember people who gained success … who healed and transformed their lives,” Porter said.The bridge to the 35-acre public health campus was found unsafe, and the site was abandoned in 2014. While 7NEWS walked through the buildings today, it looks like people were immediately evacuated.A pool game is still set on a table, and food from a vending machine is scattered nearby. There are wheelchairs left in halls, and beds with blankets in rooms. Weather and time has ruined ...

Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan set record straight on engagement rumors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:54 GMT

“Real Housewives of Miami” star Larsa Pippen and boyfriend Marcus Jordan are setting the record straight about their marriage plans.The 49-year-old reality personality and 32-year-old former college basketball player officially went public with their romance in January. Ever since, they’ve been the center of scrutiny due of their age gap — and the fact that Pippen’s ex-husband, Scottie Pippen, and Jordan’s father, Michael Jordan, were teammates during the height of the Chicago Bulls’ NBA reign.Adding to the fervor, the younger Jordan revealed to paparazzi last week that he and Larsa have a wedding date “in the works.”On the Aug. 22 episode of the couple’s “Separation Anxiety” podcast, Jordan clarified his statement that sent social media into overdrive.“First topic is ‘Marcus is looking for a wedding venue.’ Obviously, we were at dinner the other night, and paparazzi got us leaving the restaura...

‘Save a rented moving truck today’ and don’t get Storrowed: Massachusetts DCR puts out warning with Sarah McLachlan ‘Angel’ video

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:54 GMT

What’s the over/under for the number of U-Haul trucks getting Storrowed this move-in day?Massachusetts officials are trying to get the word out ahead of September to prevent the annual tradition of drivers slamming into Boston-area bridges and overpasses, leading to the tops of moving trucks getting sheared off and major traffic delays.In a video with Sarah McLachlan’s song “Angel” in the background — the song used in the legendary ASPCA commercials — the state Department of Conservation and Recreation urges movers to not drive trucks on local roads with low bridges.“For just zero dollars a day, you can not hit a bridge or an overpass on Storrow Drive and Soldiers Field Road in Boston and Memorial Drive in Cambridge,” the DCR official says in the video posted on Wednesday.“We know you are excited to be moving to the Boston-area, and we’re happy to have you, but seriously, that moving truck isn’t going to fit on those ...

Patriots training camp Day 29: Razor-sharp Mac Jones tosses 2 TDs to close final preseason practice

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:54 GMT

FOXBORO — Judging by Wednesday’s padded practice, the last of Patriots training camp, Mac Jones’ preseason might be over before Friday’s game even kicks off.Jones kept busy over an 18-of-23 day, hitting DeVante Parker and Kayshon Boutte in the end zone with his final passes during a simulated two-minute drill. Jones’ workload indicated he’ll be limited to a couple drives, if any, during the Pats’ preseason finale at Tennessee. He lived up to the “way better quarterback” standard Patriots safety Adrian Phillips set while speaking about Jones’ progress after Tuesday’s practice.Phillips shared his confidence is “through the roof.” Jones made that plenty evident Wednesday by connecting on two long balls to Kendrick Bourne early in team drills, then firing RPO throws into tight windows and whipping touchdown passes to finish practice. Jones’ spraying the field with completions wasn’t the only welcome sigh...

Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin challenged the Kremlin in a brief mutiny

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:54 GMT

Yevgeny Prigozhin made his name as the profane and brutal mercenary boss who in June mounted an armed rebellion that was the most severe and shocking challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule.Prigozhin was aboard a plane that crashed north of Moscow on Wednesday, killing all 10 people on board, according to Russia’s civil aviation agency.The 62-year-old’s extraordinary journey took him from prisoner and hot dog vendor to elegant St. Petersburg restaurateur, and then from propaganda wars to the grisly battlefields in Ukraine.As an instrument to project Russian power globally, his soldiers-for-hire were deployed to Africa to provide security for warlords and fought in Syria to shore up the regime of President Bashar Assad.In May, they seized the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in a rare victory for Russia in the war, but Prigozhin complained bitterly about the Defense Ministry’s conduct of the fight, saying it had denied ammunition to his forces.As the war slogg...

Trans Mountain pipeline project runs into fresh construction-related hurdle

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:54 GMT

CALGARY — The Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion project has run into another construction-related hurdle that could delay its completion.The crown corporation that owns the pipeline has filed for regulatory approval to modify the route of one of the remaining stretches of pipe yet to be completed.In its regulatory filing, Trans Mountain Corp. said it has run into engineering difficulties related to the drilling of a tunnel in B.C. and wants to alter the route slightly for a 1.3-kilometre stretch of pipe, as well as the construction method.But the filing documents illustrate how the company is facing opposition from the Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc Nation, whose traditional territory the pipeline crosses and who had agreed to the originally proposed route and construction method.The documents state that between May and July 2023, Trans Mountain Corp. met and corresponded several times with the First Nation’s leadership, who continued to express concern that the pipeline proje...

Suspect pepper sprayed, assaulted victim with baton: Toronto police

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:54 GMT

Toronto police are searching for a male suspect following a random assault with pepper spray and a baton northeast of the city.Investigators responded to a call for an assault in the Wakunda Place and O’Connor Drive area at around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.It’s alleged the suspect approached a man in the hallway of an apartment building and sprayed them with a substance believed to be pepper spray. He then hit the man with a collapsible baton.The suspect then fled the scene.Police said 46-year-old Marco Cordeiro is wanted for two counts of assault with a weapon.Cordeiro is described as five-foot-eight, around 165 pounds, balding, and has tattoos on his neck.He was last seen wearing a light blue tank top, dark shorts and black running shoes.

Nicaraguan government bans Jesuit order, confiscates all property

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:54 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nicaragua’s government on Wednesday declared the Jesuit religious order illegal and ordered the confiscation of all its property.The move comes one week after the government of President Daniel Ortega confiscated the Jesuit-run University of Central America in Nicaragua, arguing it was a “center of terrorism.” The confiscation order published Wednesday claimed the Roman Catholic order had failed to comply with tax reporting.It was the latest in a series of increasingly authoritarian actions by the Nicaraguan government against the Catholic Church and opposition figures. The Jesuit order, known as the Society of Jesus, has condemned the measures.The University of Central America in Nicaragua was a hub for 2018 protests against the Ortega regime.After last week’s announcement, the Society of Jesus of Central America said in a statement that “This is a government policy that systematically violates human rights and appears to be aimed at consolidating a totalit...