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Ada Sagi was already dealing with the pain of loss. Then war came to her door

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:16:41 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Ada Sagi was getting ready to travel to London to celebrate her 75th birthday with family when Hamas militants attacked her kibbutz and took her hostage.The trip was supposed to be a joyous occasion after a year of trauma. Her husband died of cancer last year, she had struggled with allergies and was recovering from hip replacement surgery. But the grandmother of six was getting through it, even though it was hard.“They had a very, very, very strong bond of 54 years,” her son Noam, a psychotherapist in London, told The Associated Press. “And my mum, this is her main thing now, really, just getting her life back after dealing with the loss of my dad.”Ada Sagi was born in Tel Aviv in 1948, the daughter of Holocaust survivors from Poland. She moved to a kibbutz at the age of 18, not for religious reasons but because she was attracted by the ideals of equality and humanity on which the communal settlements were built.A mother of three, Ada decided to learn Arabic so she co...

Fire-ravaged N.W.T. hamlet asks for independent inquiry as it looks to rebuild

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:16:41 GMT

ENTERPRISE, N.W.T. — Paul Flamand dug through the ashes of his burned-down home in a hamlet known as the gateway to the Northwest Territories. The building was lost to a raging wildfire that tore through Enterprise within a matter of hours in August. But a piece of his heart held onto hope that one thing may have survived — his grandfather’s ring. He saw a slight shining in the debris, and there it was. “It was fine, a little charred up, but the diamonds were still in it. Good enough,” Flamand said in an interview at his plumbing business, which survived the fire. Enterprise, a community of about 100 people on the highway north of the Alberta boundary, lost 80 per cent of its structures. Local leaders are wondering why there was so much destruction. “Once the fire got to that point, nothing could be done,” said Blair Porter, the hamlet’s senior administrative officer. “But did it have to get to that point? Those are the questions we’re asking.”The hamlet trac...

Alberta mountain towns work to coexist with bears through warnings and other actions

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:16:41 GMT

BANFF, Alta. — When Banff Mayor Corrie DiManno goes out for a run in her Alberta mountain town, she wears a vest holding a can of bear spray, makes noise and keeps an eye out for wildlife.The town in Banff National Park has strict rules around how to dispose of garbage and has recently renewed an effort to offer its residents free fruit tree removal in an attempt to reduce wildlife attractants.“We know that you need a healthy wildlife population in the national park and we take that really seriously,” she said in an interview. “We also know that, for visitors, seeing animals safely — from a safe distance — is a vibrant and special experience.”DiManno, a long-term resident who has been the town’s mayor since 2021, said it’s all part of coexisting with bears in the Canadian Rockies — a reality that took a terrible turn in late September when an Alberta couple and their dog were killed by a grizzly bear during a backcountry camping trip in the nation...

"A humanitarian disaster:' Chicagoans voice concerns for loved ones trapped in Gaza

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:16:41 GMT

CHICAGO -- Israel gave civilians in Gaza a 24-hour warning to evacuate Friday before an expected large-scale invasion in the midst of launching deadly airstrikes across the region in the past week. Feelings of distress escalate for Palestinians in Chicago as they worry for loved ones scrambling to seek safety. Israeli air-raids have sent buildings to rubble, killed dozens of civilians in the past day and has minimized access to safekeeping. The U.N. has warned that evacuating more than half of the population would be calamitous and has urged Israel to reconsider action. More than 2,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 8,000 wounded in Gaza. Associated Press reported that the morgue at Gaza's biggest hospital has overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim. Hospitals in the northern part of the strip have also been ordered to evacuate. "Evacuation is impossible for most people, there is nowhere to evacuate and no way to get there. This is asking to displ...

NADA used car value vs. KBB used car value

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:16:41 GMT

(iSeeCars) -- If you’re buying or selling a used car, you’ll want an accurate valuation of the vehicle to know if it’s fairly priced. Luckily there are plenty of pricing tools available to help you figure out how much a vehicle is worth.You’ve probably heard of the most common two: NADA Guides and Kelley Blue Book®. Is one more accurate than the other? And what are the differences between these two pricing guides? We have the important answers, but first here's a brief description of each:NADAGuidesNADA stands for the National Automobile Dealers Association, which is a trade organization that represents all franchised new-car dealers. NADA publishes the Official Used Car Guide, which provides used car values for dealers across the United States. Since 1933, the Used Car guide has been a trusted and valuable resource for dealers to set retail prices and calculate trade-in values. In 2015, NADA was acquired by J.D. Power, another industry-leading data company. NADA also has a consumer...

Accenture to lay off hundreds more Austin employees for third time this year

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:16:41 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Accenture intends to lay off 351 Austin employees from its Domain office before the end of the year, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, earlier this week. The Ireland-headquartered professional services giant has laid off hundreds of Austin employees already in 2023. A letter made public in May revealed the company would lay off 549 Austin employees also working at the office in The Domain. In June, another wave of layoffs was revealed to affect over 200 workers at a Williamson County Accenture office. The new layoffs are expected to be permanent and are due to a change in client contract requirements, according to Austin Business Journal reporting.

APD gets 11 theft reports during ACL Weekend 1

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:16:41 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Weekend Two of Austin City Limits Music Festivals is underway. During the first weekend of the festival, the Austin Police Department received 11 theft reports. This includes five reports of people stealing from individuals and six reports of theft or burglary from vehicles. RELATED: ACL lost and found fills up after Weekend 1 During both weekends in 2022, APD received 16 reports similar to these. In 2021, police received 27 theft reports, according to APD. If your phone or another item is stolen at ACL, festivalgoers should call 311 or report the theft online at ireportaustin.com. Before ACL began, APD gave advice to prevent thefts at the festival. Take down your phone’s serial number ahead of the weekend and keep that number in a safe place at home. This can help APD track it down more easily if it does get stolen.Keep valuables in different places on your person. This way, for example, if your phone is in a purse, but your ID is in a fanny pack, only one of tho...

Former KXAN studio set gets new home at UT Moody College

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:16:41 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The former studio set at KXAN is now in use at the University of Texas at Austin's Moody College of Communication. The set launched Thursday and will be used by the Radio-Television-Film department. Students will use the set for the Reporting Texas newscast. The former KXAN studio set is now in use at the University of Texas at Austin. UT Assistant Professor Kate West cut the ribbon on the new set. (KXAN Photo/Haley Cihock)The former KXAN set is now in use at the University of Texas at Austin. (Courtesy Nathan West)The former KXAN set is now in use at the University of Texas at Austin. (KXAN Photo/Haley Cihock)The former KXAN set is now in use at the University of Texas at Austin. (KXAN Photo/Haley Cihock)KXAN donated the lights anchor desk after it began a studio renovation last year. KXAN's new studio launched in February with an expanded First Warning Weather Center and more video display options.

The summer COVID surge is finally waning. Is a winter wave coming soon?

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:16:41 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – We're well into fall, but the surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths that started over the summer has started to decline. The respite may be short-lived. Winter, the typical peak season for respiratory viruses, is just around the corner. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it's expecting a "moderate COVID-19 wave" this winter, with a peak matching last winter's hospitalization levels. "COVID-19 could peak earlier than last season, however, because of limited summer activity compared to past years," the agency added. Former White House COVID response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said he expects cases to keep dropping for the next month or two before rising again during the winter holidays. Free COVID tests arrive – but they may look expired It's not clear yet how the new booster shot, formulated to specifically target common omicron strains, will impact the size of this year's surge. "Whether hospitalizations rise will depend in part on upta...

Why do some national parks charge an entrance fee?

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:16:41 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — There is no question that the more than 400 national parks, monuments, seashores, historic sites, recreation areas, and other sites overseen by the National Park Service are stunning. But before you can visit some, you may have to pay. Across the entire National Park Service, which includes 425 units, only 109 charge an entrance fee.Nearly all have a park-specific annual pass, ranging from $35 to $70. Many also have fees per vehicle, person or motorcycle that vary from $5 to $35. If you’re a frequent visitor to many national parks or federal recreational lands, you may want the America The Beautiful annual pass worth $80. At this point, you may have had a common realization: we pay federal taxes, which can be used to fund the National Park Service, so why do I need to pay to get into a national park at all? It was a popular national monument, until it was robbed to extinction While it’s true that your federal income taxes do in a way fund the National Park Se...