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Travel agents share top strategies to avoid a bad experience

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:15 GMT

By Holly Johnson | TravelPulse (TNS)Travel disasters can come in nearly any form, turning your vacation into a giant headache in a hurry. For example, losing your luggage before or during a trip can cause delays and waste time. So can failing to plan your trip (or to plan it well), as can taking shortcuts to save money that actually cost you in the long run.Other travel problems may involve the timing of your trip. Arriving too late for a cruise, missing your flight or a connection or forgetting to check your passport ahead of time can create some huge problems for your vacation that can cost time and money to resolve.With that in mind, we asked travel agents from the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) for some of their best strategies to have an enjoyable trip and avoid the myriad issues and inconveniences that can occur. If you want to have the best possible vacation with limited hassle and stress, read on to hear what these travel professionals had to say.Travel early bef...

Spice up Sunday football with tasty, easy snacks

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:15 GMT

Finally! It’s football time, and I’m stoked for this season. New team members, new quarterback, but the same loyal fans cheering “Go, Pack, Go!”I’ve been a diehard Green Bay Packers (cheesehead) fan for 30 years now. Green and gold all the way!I was fortunate to have been taught most of my knowledge about football by my great-aunt and great-uncle. I will always be a California girl, but they’re from Wisconsin so that state will always have a piece of my heart, and that’s how I became a loyal Green Bay Packers’ fan.No matter if it’s at a tailgate party, a bar screaming and cheering at the TV during football season, or having a football party at home, the food and drinks might be the best part of the season. Yes, one can go to a bar for a pint and wings, but in my opinion, making a smorgasbord for yourself and/or for friends at home with what’s in the refrigerator and cupboards — that’s what makes amazing memories.So, this week, I just wanted to share a few ideas for some easy, yummy ...

Artificial intelligence may influence whether you can get pain medication

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:15 GMT

Andy Miller and Sam Whitehead | (TNS) KFF Health NewsElizabeth Amirault had never heard of a Narx Score. But she said she learned last year the tool had been used to track her medication use.During an August 2022 visit to a hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Amirault told a nurse practitioner she was in severe pain, she said. She received a puzzling response.“Your Narx Score is so high, I can’t give you any narcotics,” she recalled the man saying, as she waited for an MRI before a hip replacement.Tools like Narx Scores are used to help medical providers review controlled substance prescriptions. They influence, and can limit, the prescribing of painkillers, similar to a credit score influencing the terms of a loan. Narx Scores and an algorithm-generated overdose risk rating are produced by health care technology company Bamboo Health (formerly Appriss Health) in its NarxCare platform.Such systems are designed to fight the nation’s opioid epidemic, which has led to an alarming number o...

Wages are finally rising faster than inflation, but why don’t we feel it?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:15 GMT

Sarah Foster | (TNS) Bankrate.comGlenn Stellwag is making more money than ever between his two jobs and side hustles. Even then, he feels like he’s barely scraping by most months thanks to inflation.After a back injury cost him his job at a sawmill six years ago, Stellwag, 41, has worked at a local hardware store near his Michigan home, where he stocks shelves, rings up merchandise and assists customers four days a week from 9 a.m. to about 6 p.m. But last October, Stellwag found a second job with a tow truck company, work he picked up when he felt he “couldn’t afford to live anymore.” He’s on call six days a week from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. The way his schedules line up, he doesn’t have a single night off from work.He’s since added other gigs repairing lawn mowers and small engines. His total monthly income rounds out to anywhere between $2,500 and $3,000 a month, all of which goes toward his groceries, mortgage, truck payment, car payment, insurance and utilities. Even his hobby — mud b...

Influx of asylum seekers arrive to U.S.-Mexico border

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:15 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Migrants from all over the world are arriving, once again, to the U.S.-Mexico border in hopes of seeking asylum.FOX 5’s Elizabeth Alvarez spent Wednesday morning at the border to get a better look at ongoing conditions. Peso Pluma receives death threats ahead of Tijuana concert, officials say Men, women, and children were seen camped out between the primary and secondary border barriers. This area, according to Border Patrol, is considered part of U.S. territory.It’s a similar scene to what developed back in May when Title 42 came to an end. Some migrants told FOX 5 they are hoping to declare asylum, while others explained they are coming for economic reasons. Juarez won’t ban ‘narco-corridos’ at annual city fair It was hard to gauge exactly how many were people behind the border barrier Wednesday, but migrant advocates who have been monitoring the situation say the numbers have been getting larger. Upward toward 250 people were seen waiting to be picked up by Borde...

Mitt Romney to retire from Senate 

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:15 GMT

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) announced Wednesday he will retire from the Senate at the end of his term, dealing moderate Republicans and those opposed to former President Trump a major blow.Romney said in a statement that it’s time for a new crop of political leaders to step in.“I have spent my last 25 years in public service of one kind or another. At the end of another term, I’d be in my mid-eighties,” Romney said in a press release. “Frankly, it’s time for a new generation of leaders. They’re the ones that need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in.”The decision by Romney, 76, will all but bring his political career to an end, a career that includes his 2012 general election loss to former President Obama, serving a term as governor of Massachusetts and six years representing Utah in the Senate. His single term in the upper chamber will be widely remembered for his votes to convict Trump in both of his impeachments — the only Senate Republican to hav...

Brews, bites, and beats: Amps & Ales happening in South Bay this weekend

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:15 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- Unlimited beer tastings, tamales, and live music -- that's what can be expected at Memorial Park in Chula Vista on Saturday.The annual Amps & Ales event is returning for another year with 38 local and international breweries ready to tantalize the taste buds of beer enthusiast in the region.​Enrique Montalvo with Thr3e Punk Ales says parkgoers can expect to see their Third Avenue IPA and a brand new Italian pilsner. He's just one of many brewers who will be at the event. KAABOO expected to return to Del Mar Fairgrounds For those who prefer non-alcoholic beverages, Jen Spiers with IMPROV Booze-Free Cocktails says there will be plenty of options at Amps & Ales."We are a local San Diego brand of non-alcoholic cocktails that are designed to taste like real cocktails, so it's a great option if you are at the festival and not drinking and you still want to have fun, or you want to pace yourself throughout it," said Spiers.A variety of local ...

Trump waives right to speedy trial as Georgia prosecutor seeks to try him with 18 others next month

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:15 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Donald Trump and several other defendants are waiving their right to seek a speedy trial in the Georgia case in which they are accused of participating in an illegal scheme to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election.The filings are part of the legal maneuvering as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willisseeks to try all 19 defendants together starting next month. Most of the defendants have sought to separate their cases from some or all of the others, with many saying they will not be ready by Oct. 23, when a trial has been set for two defendants who have already filed demands for a speedy trial. The judge has expressed skepticism that all defendants could go to trial that day. Trump was the first to file the speedy trial waiver. The early front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, Trump has previously sought to slow proceedings in his other criminal cases while he seeks a return to the White House in the 2024 election. H...

Canadian governments, charities and citizens send aid to earthquake-stricken Morocco

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:15 GMT

MONTREAL — Hassaan Sheikh says that as his team distributes blankets and mattresses in Moroccan villages, they are told about bodies being discovered under the rubble of homes flattened by last week’s earthquake.Sheikh, a Vancouver-based aid worker with Islamic Relief Canada, says the “complete destruction” from the 6.8-magnitude earthquake makes clear how much help the country will need to recover.Federal and provincial governments, charities and Moroccan Canadians are mobilizing to help the North African country, which has reported more than 2,900 deaths and several thousand injuries after the earthquake struck south of the city of Marrakech last Friday.On Wednesday, federal International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen said the government would match donations — up to $3 million — made to the Canadian Red Cross’s earthquake relief fund over the next two weeks. The money will help the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement distribute life-savin...

Powerful explosion kills 4 Palestinians in Gaza. Israel says the blast was caused by mishandled bomb

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:15 GMT

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least four Palestinians were killed and 20 others wounded Wednesday in an explosion next to the separation fence along the Israeli frontier with Gaza, Palestinian health officials said.The cause of the blast wasn’t immediately known.The explosion took place during a demonstration along the fence marking the anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005. The event on Gaza’s eastern border was organized by Hamas, the Islamic militant group that has governed the territory since 2007.The Israeli army, which has fought four wars against Hamas, denied involvement. It said that demonstrators were trying to throw a bomb over the fence when the device detonated. It released an aerial video showing a blast along the fence. Debris flew into the air, and several people could be seen running away.Earlier in the day, participants held Palestinian flags and burned tires to celebrate the anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal. Suh...