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US authorities seize shipment of swim bladders from endangered fish valued at $2.7 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:43 GMT

(CNN) — US Customs and Border Protection officers in Arizona have seized 242 pounds of swim bladders – the organ that helps fish control their buoyancy – that came from the endangered Totoaba fish, authorities said.Officers working at the Nogales Port of Entry in Santa Cruz County discovered the organs hidden inside a commercial shipment of frozen fish fillets, CBP announced.The swim bladders discovered on April 13 were valued at an estimated $2.7 million, according to a news release.The US Fish and Wildlife Service conducted preliminary DNA testing that revealed the bladders belonged to the Totoaba macdonaldi species native to Mexico’s Gulf of California. The agency took possession of the bladders and is investigating the smuggling attempt with Homeland Security Investigations.Authorities said the seizure is likely the second largest of its kind in the US and the largest Totoaba seizure in Arizona.Totoaba fish, whose swim bladders are considered an Asi...

Navy’s fifth annual Frogman swim kicks off Father’s Day morning

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:43 GMT

The fifth annual Boston Navy Frogman swim kicked off Sunday morning in East Boston to honor the SEAL community’s fallen warriors.More than 90 swimmers, 50 kayakers and over 30 Gold Star families will be participating in the 5K in the Boston Harbor.Swimmers began around 8 a.m. on Father’s Day at the Piers Park Sailing Center, and the challenging course will go until about 11. The SEALs are also hosting a post-event party for after the swim around 11:30 a.m.

Mike Veeck’s unique story of family and baseball (Disco Demolition) the subject of new doc ‘The Saint of Second Chances’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:43 GMT

There is always love in baseball.Love of the game. Love between father and son in appreciating a great game together and in “The Saint of Second Chances,” there is wonderful love between father, sons and daughter with baseball as the backdrop.This documentary, which is airing at the Tribeca Festival until June 18 and will premiere on Netflix this fall, is about a life of hard times, fun times and abject sorrow concerning one Mike Veeck.The name should ring a bell. His father was the maverick, peg-legged baseball owner of the Cleveland Indians (integrating the American League with future Hall of Famer Larry Doby and winning the World Series in 1948), St. Louis Browns, and lastly the Chicago White Sox. You know … Bill Veeck … as in wreck.His final endeavor with the Pale Hose literally went up in smoke as young Veeck reminisces about Disco Demolition Night on July 12, 1979 (aka Disco Sucks) and how the insanity at old Comiskey Park that ended his father’s ...

MLB notes: This Father’s Day hits different for Trevor Story, who recently welcomed second son since joining Red Sox

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:43 GMT

Hours before Tuesday’s game, Trevor Story was out on the field taking batting practice when he abruptly stopped, flipped his bat and jogged over to the dugout.There waiting for him was his wife Mallie and two sons, 14-month-old Stetson and newborn Nolan. He picked up Stetson and took a few steps out onto the field, taking in the view of the Green Monster with his son, who was born days after Story signed with the Red Sox last March.“It’s been a whirlwind honestly, just a lot of change going on professionally and personally, but all amazing things,” Story said this week. “He’ll only know me playing for the Red Sox, which is cool, but a whirlwind for sure but all things that were taken in stride.”Story’s journey as a father and as a member of the Red Sox have been deeply intertwined, and this Father’s Day promises to be extra special for the two-time All-Star. He and his wife welcomed Nolan last month, and this week they have all b...

Nearly 100 die as India struggles with a sweltering heat wave in 2 most populous states

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:43 GMT

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — At least 96 people died in two of India’s most populous states over the last several days, officials said Sunday, with swaths of the country reeling from a sweltering heat wave.The deaths happened in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and eastern Bihar where authorities warned residents over 60 and others suffering various maladies to stay indoors during the daytime.All the fatalities in Uttar Pradesh, totaling 54, were reported in Ballia district, some 300 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Lucknow, the state capital. Authorities found out most of those who passed away were over 60 years old and had preexisting health conditions, which may have been exacerbated by the intense heat.S. K. Yadav, a medical officer in Ballia, said in the past three days, some 300 patients were admitted to the district hospital for various ailments aggravated by heat.Due to the gravity of the situation, authorities canceled leave applications of medical personnel in Ballia ...

20 shot, one dead at parking lot party in suburban Chicago

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:43 GMT

WILLOWBROOK, Ill. (AP) — At least 20 people were shot, one fatally, early Sunday during a gathering in a parking lot in suburban Chicago, authorities said.TV news video showed the strip mall lot filled with debris and police tape in Willowbrook, about 20 miles (32.1 kilometers) southwest of Chicago.“There were at least 20 individuals shot. One victim is deceased,” said Eric Swanson, deputy chief at the DuPage County sheriff’s office. “The motive behind this incident is unclear. … We transported numerous victims from the scene. Others just walked into area hospitals.”The conditions of the wounded were not immediately available, Swanson told reporters.“It was supposed to be like a Juneteenth celebration. We just started hearing shooting, so we dropped down until they stopped,” witness Markeshia Avery told WLS-TV.Another witness, Craig Lotcie, said: “Everybody ran, and it was chaos.”The Associated Press

Woman who founded Father’s Day was a renegade, great granddaughter says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:43 GMT

You could call her the mother of Father’s Day.The late Sonora Smart Dodd launched the celebration of dads in 1910 in her hometown of Spokane, Washington. As a result, she is the one responsible for those annual gifts that run the gamut from embarrassingly silly-looking neckties to kids’ finger paintings crafted with so much love by those tiny hands that they can bring a tear to the eye of even the most stoic father.It’s a tradition Dodd decided to start as she sat in a Spokane church on Mother’s Day 1909, listening to a sermon about – what else? – Mother’s Day.“And it bugged her,” Dodd’s great-granddaughter, Betsy Roddy, told The Associated Press in 2017. “She thought, ‘Well, why isn’t there a Father’s Day?”Dodd and her five younger brothers, after all, had been raised by their father after their mother died in childbirth in 1898.William Jackson Smart became a farmer after fighting in the Civil...

Stalled contract jeopardizes relations between new Disney governing body and firefighters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:43 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — After appointees of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took over Walt Disney World’s governing district earlier this year, its firefighters were among the few employees who publicly welcomed them with open arms.But that warm relationship is in jeopardy as a new district administrator has reopened negotiations on a contract that was approved last month by the unionized firefighters, promising pay raises and more manpower.A vote on the contract originally was targeted for last month during a meeting of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board of supervisors but it was never brought up, and it did not appear on an agenda released ahead of the next meeting scheduled for Wednesday.Under the three-year contract proposal overwhelmingly approved by 200 firefighters and first responders, annual starting pay for firefighters would increase to $65,000, up from $55,000. It also promised hiring up to three dozen firefighters and paramedics.At several meetings since the De...

20 wounded including 1 fatal in shooting in Willowbrook: Police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:43 GMT

UNINCORPORATED WILLOWBROOK, Ill. -- DuPage County responded to a shooting in unincorporated Willowbrook which sent 20 people to the hospital and left one person dead, police said. According to the Battalion Chief with the tri-state Fire protection district, at around 12:30 a.m. there was a shooting reported near Route 83 and Honeysuckle Rose Lane.The DuPage County Sheriff confirmed that 20 people were injured with gunshot wounds. At least ten people were transported to hospitals while many others self-transported. Fire officials said two victims are in critical condition. Fire also said officers applied a handful of tourniquets at the scene to the people who were wounded. Multiple shot near Lincoln Park Zoo: Chicago Police Witnesses described the scene as chaotic with people running as gunfire erupted. A motive behind the shooting is still unclear.WGN is actively investigating the incident and will update as new information is released.

1 dead, at least 20 injured in shooting at Illinois Juneteenth celebration: police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:43 GMT

WILLOWBROOK, Ill. (WGN) - One person is dead and at least 20 were injured in a shooting at an Illinois Juneteenth celebration early Sunday morning, police have confirmed. Deputies with the DuPage County Sheriff's Office were in the Willowbrook area, roughly 20 miles west of Chicago, when they reported hearing gunshots ring out shortly before 12:30 a.m.They responded to a parking lot outside of a strip mall, where they found multiple people had been struck by gunfire."Initially, I could see the scene coming down the street, and I knew we were going to have a significant response in the area," said Battalion Chief Joe Ostrander with the Tri-State Fire Protection District. The DuPage County Sheriff confirmed that at least 20 people were injured. Injuries ranged from graze wounds to more serious wounds, according to Ostrander. One person has died from their injuries, authorities said.At least 10 people were transported to hospitals while many others self-transported. Fire officials said...