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29-year-old giraffe 'humanely euthanized' due to decline in health

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:10 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The Denver Zoo announced Wednesday that a giraffe that was born at the zoo in 1993 has passed away.The zoo said that Kipele was "humanely euthanized" on March 7 after her health suddenly declined. The zoo said she passed peacefully, surrounded by those who loved and cared for her. ‘He was a fighter for sure’: Denver Zoo tiger dies at 12 years old Kipele had mobility issues that were being managed, as well as her advanced age. The zoo said the giraffe was born on Aug. 16, 1993, and was one of the oldest giraffes in an AZA-accredited facility."Even though we knew our time with Kipele wouldn’t last forever, this loss, like any, is incredibly hard on the staff who provided her with immeasurable amounts of love, care and attention for the past 29 years," the zoo shared.The zoo said the average lifespan for giraffes is 25 years. First grizzly bear emerges from long winter’s nap at Yellowstone "While providing our animals with the best possible care is incredibly rewar...

Man accused in shooting of MDPD officer in Miami is son of Miami-Dade School Board vice chair; 4 arrested, 1 detained

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:10 GMT

Police said they have made four arrests and have detained a fifth person in connection to the shooting of a Miami-Dade Police narcotics officer who was making an arrest in Miami, including the man who pulled the trigger.Thirty-two-year-old Steve Gallon IV will be charged with attempted murder of a law enforcement officer with a firearm. He is the son of Miami-Dade School Board Vice Chair Dr. Steve Gallon III.According to investigators, Gallon IV ambushed the victim while he was arresting another man in the area of Northwest 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, just after 4 p.m., Wednesday.The shooting kicked off an intense manhunt that led officers to set up a large perimeter in the Buena Vista West neighborhood. Officers in tactical gear from multiple agencies went door-to-door in search of the suspects.Wednesday night, police confirmed they had apprehended the man who was initially going to be arrested. He was later identified as 30-year-old Atiba Moore.Police took the four others into c...

1,000-pound, 11-foot great white shark ‘Maple’ pings off Florida coast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:10 GMT

SAINT GEORGE ISLAND, Florida (WESH) — Great white shark Maple was pinged Monday morning about 43 miles southeast of St. George Island, Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico, according to tracking data from OCEARCH, a nonprofit organization that tracks marine life.Maple, who is named after Canada’s national symbol, has spent much of her winter in the Gulf of Mexico over the past two seasons, according to OCEARCH.The organization’s research vessel, MV OCEARCH, has been tracking the 11-foot-7-inch-long female shark since she was tagged off the coast of Nova Scotia in 2021. Maple is one of the many white sharks being tracked by the organization to better understand their behavior and movement patterns.The 1,264-pound shark was also noted for a distinctive wound on the left side of her body, likely caused by an encounter with a larger white shark. According to the research team’s initial assessment, Maple’s wound was likely the result of dominance behavior, a commo...

Nice Friday, then watching two storms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:10 GMT

7Weather – Not too bad out there today! We saw a lot of blue sky for a good chunk of the day. With the help of the March sun angle, temperatures rebounded to the upper 40s and some spots hit 50°.It’s been a windy week! Luckily, the wind will continue to diminish tonight. Light wind along with a few clouds overnight should allow temperatures to drop into the upper 20s and near 30° along the coast. Tomorrow morning we should get a few hours of bright sunshine, before mid and high level clouds take over. Highs rebound to the upper 40s/near 50° for a lot of us. There will be a light, onshore breeze keeping it cooler on the coast.We’ve been looking to our east for incoming cloud cover and any spot showers this week. Late tomorrow night, we turn to our west. An area of low pressure will form through the Ohio Valley and the center of it will track south of us. With this track, impacts will be minimal for us. Snow showers move in late Friday/early Saturday morning. Accumul...

French bulldog has eyes for actor Henry Cavill 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:10 GMT

A French bulldog named Rory apparently has eyes for a famous British actor. Rory’s owner has shared the love affair on social media, explaining her dog started staring at the TV while the Netflix series “The Witcher” was playing. Rory could not look away from one of the show’s actors — Henry Cavill. Rory was again smitten when Cavill appeared on screen as Superman. “If he comes on the screen and she hears his voice, she will wake up out of a deep sleep and pop up and look for him,” owner Heather Land said in a recent interview. Land dressed Rory up as Geralt from “The Witcher” for Halloween. Soon, TikTok fans were sending Cavill merchandise, and a shrine was born. That shrine now contains everything from pillows to figurines and candles. See updates on Rory here.

Struggling T May Be Stuck With Reduced Ridership

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:10 GMT

MBTA officials are weighing whether persistent reduced ridership warrants a more pessimistic fare revenue projection in the upcoming budget, and one overseer thinks the sluggish outlook might just be “the new normal.”Almost exactly three years after the COVID-19 crisis pushed public transit ridership numbers off a cliff, average systemwide use of the T remains only a bit more than half of pre-pandemic levels. The rate of recovery has slowed in the past year, driven in part by widespread service disruptions and a month-long shutdown of the Orange Line.That trend creates major financial pressure for the MBTA, and chief financial officer Mary Ann O’Hara on Thursday floated the idea of expecting even less income from paying commuters in fiscal 2024.Budget-writers at the MBTA in recent years have used a trio of ridership models or “scenarios.” The most optimistic of those would project about $596 million in fare revenue in fiscal 2024, the moderate option wo...

Bova’s Bakery to temporarily close for Matt Damon, Casey Affleck movie filming

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:10 GMT

Hollywood will be back in Boston later this month as a film starring a pair of local A-list actors brings cameras to the North End.The filming will prompt a temporary closure for the famous Bova’s Bakery, whose owner recently said he is “nervous but excited,” for a moment in the spotlight. Bova’s hasn’t closed its doors for nearly a hundred years. That streak is about to come to an end though as owner Ralph Bova has agreed to close his around-the-clock bakery for five days from March 20 to March 25 to make way for stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. A new production company created by Damon and Affleck’s brother, Ben, is producing the movie, which is called “The Instigators.” The movie follows two crooks who go on the run with their therapist when a robbery goes wrong. Bova said a police officer will come in for the scene at Bova’s Bakery and smash glass cases with a nightstick following the botched heist. The glass, Bova said, is movie glass. “Not mine...

Shooting at Jehovah’s Witness hall in Germany causes deaths

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:10 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Shots were fired inside a building used by Jehovah’s Witnesses in the northern German city of Hamburg on Thursday evening, and an unspecified number of people were killed or wounded, police said.The shooting took place in the Gross Borstel district, a few kilometers (miles) north of the downtown area of Germany’s second-biggest city.Police said on Twitter that “several people were seriously wounded, some of them fatally,” but didn’t give a precise figure.German news agency dpa reported seeing rescue services taking people out of a building used by Jehovah’s Witnesses.Police said they were alerted to the shooting about 9:15 p.m. and were on the scene quickly. They said that after officers arrived, they heard a shot from an upper floor.The police statement said there was no immediate indication that a shooter was on the run and tehat it appeared likely that the perpetrator or perpetrators were either in the building or among the dead.Police had no information on the even...

Boston will stop giving residents $75 for COVID vaccines and boosters, virus wastewater data plunges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:10 GMT

If you’re looking to get a COVID vaccine or booster in the city, you only have a few more weeks to also take home $75 while getting the jab.The Boston Public Health Commission’s $75 COVID shot incentive expires at the end of March.“Attention residents! The $75 gift card incentive for COVID-19 vaccination/boosters at our standing sites is ending,” the Boston Public Health Commission tweeted on Thursday. “The last day you can get a $75 gift card is March 31. To find a standing site near you, visit boston.gov/covid19-vaccine.”People who have not received a COVID booster since August 2022 are due to get the updated bivalent booster.Meanwhile, the city’s virus wastewater data is continuing to take a plunge. Data from the city’s wastewater surveillance program shows that the number of COVID particles in the wastewater dropped 64% over the past two weeks.The citywide average is now 496 viral RNA copies per milliliter, down from 897 viral RNA ...

Biden’s budget would transfer ownership of Cape Cod bridges to Massachusetts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:10 GMT

The president’s 2024 budget, as written, would partially fund the replacement of the Cape Cod bridges and proposes eventually transferring ownership of the busy spans from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the state.“The Budget includes an initial $350 million for replacement of the Cape Cod Canal bridges, toward a commitment of $600 million, and a legislative proposal that would allow the Corps to transfer those funds to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which is better suited to design and construct the replacement bridges,” President Biden’s budget reads, in part.“The Budget proposes authorizing the Corps to transfer ownership of these bridges to the Commonwealth, which would be responsible for their future operation and maintenance,” the proposal reads.MassDOT and the USACE have been working together on plans to replace the federally-owned Bourne and Sagamore bridges since 2020, when the Army Corps determined both structures would require replacement. The two bridges pr...