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Texas petrochemical plant fire sends 5 workers to hospital

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — Fire erupted at a petrochemical plant in the Houston area Friday, leaving five workers hospitalized and sending up a huge plume of smoke visible for miles.Emergency responders were called to help around 3 p.m. at the Shell facility in Deer Park, a suburb east of Houston. The city of Deer Park said in an advisory that there was no shelter-in-place order for residents.Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said five contracted employees were hospitalized for precautionary reasons, adding that they were not burned. He said they were taken to a hospital due to heat exhaustion and proximity to the fire.Nothing exploded, Gonzalez said, although the sheriff’s office initially responded to emergency calls saying there was an explosion.As of Friday evening, the fire was still burning but had died down and was contained, Gonzalez said.The cause of the blaze was still being investigated. Officials said they were monitoring the air for any impact from the fire but so far there w...

Police: Georgia man who killed 3 was in gunfight earlier

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

MOULTRIE, Ga. (AP) — A man in Georgia who, police said, killed his workplace manager, mother and grandmother before taking his own life, had been involved in a gunfight less than 48 hours earlier, law enforcement said Friday.Security video from a McDonald’s in the south Georgia town of Moultrie showed Kentavious White, 26, shoot store manager Amia Smith, 41, after getting her to come to the door before dawn on Thursday morning, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. The footage then showed White step inside the restaurant and shoot himself.After finding the shooting at the McDonald’s, police found White’s mother, 50-year-old Susie Arnold, and grandmother, 74-year-old Hilda Marshall, shot dead in their adjoining homes less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away. Marshall was dead when police found her, while Arnold died later at a hospital.All three of the slain women appeared to have been shot multiple times, Colquitt County Coroner C. Verlyn Brock told The Associated Pre...

Homewood-Flossmoor High School students may not have their prom

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

CHICAGO -- Angry parents are speaking out on Chicago's West side after a last minute venue change leaves dozens of students shut out of prom this weekend.Parents of some students at Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School said they've spent hundreds, even thousands, on dresses, limo rentals, and other preparations for their children's prom. But, now their kids are without a ticket to this Saturday's prom and they want school leaders to step up and fix the problem.With less than 24 hours until Homewood-Flossmoor's prom, some local activists, elected officials, and parents are still calling for a resolution after they said dozens of students are being left out of an event that marks a major milestone for many high schoolers. More migrants expected this weekend in Chicago Impacted families said it was well before the cut-off date for tickets when they were already sold out.Local activist, Early Walker with the group "I'm Telling, Don't Shoot," said school leaders have rejected his o...

'I'm petrified': Colorado homeowner finds snakes in walls of new home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (KDVR) — Amber Hall and her two kids moved into their new home in Centennial, Colorado, back in April. Hall, 42, is a single mom and says she's worked her whole life to buy a home."It was amazing," Hall said.But that quickly changed when Hall made a horrifying discovery: snakes living inside her walls and underneath her home. Bill banning gender transition care for youth stalls in Texas House again after protest, delay "I was unpacking in here and one of my dogs crouched down and started walking over to this corner really slow, so I was like, 'What is it, buddy?' I thought maybe it was a spider, whatever. I came over and as I came over I saw the snake slither up the wall," Hall said. "I started watching and there were more and more and more snakes."(Credit: Amber Hall)Snakes behind drywall, snakes under the patioSince then she's found the snakes behind her drywall and underneath her patio. She says she's spent more than a $1,000 so far on traps and professional h...

Bailey Ober shines as Twins blank Guardians

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

CLEVELAND — Guardians starting pitcher Peyton Battenfield had a mild flirtation with a perfect game on Friday, not allowing a baserunner until the sixth inning. And yet, Twins starter Bailey Ober was somehow even more impressive.A seven-inning gem from Ober — sorely needed after a 12-inning game the day before — and one big swing from Max Kepler helped propel the Twins to a 2-0 win over the Guardians on Friday night in the series opener at Progressive Field.Ober’s start, during which he didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning, was perhaps one of the best of his career. The starter mowed down Guardians hitters, making quick work of them.The only time he faced even the slightest bit of trouble was in his final inning. Guardians star José Ramírez led off the frame with a single and aggressively tried to race home from second with two outs on Oscar Gonzalez’s chopper back to Ober. Ober’s throw to Donovan Solano at first was too late to retire Gonzalez, but a head’s-up thr...

Rockies waste chances, great start by Antonio Senzatela in 1-0 loss to Mets

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

Trouble stalks the Rockies on the road and usually finds them.Case in point: In the eighth inning, with Jurickson Profar on third base and pinch-runner Brenton Doyle on first, Ryan McMahon, mired in a deep slump, ripped a line drive off reliever David Robertson. McMahon was credited with a hit, but instead of tying the game, McMahon’s liner hit Doyle for the final out of the inning.The final: Mets 1, Rockies 0 on Friday night at Citi Field. The game’s only run came on Brandon Nimmo’s home run in the fourth.It was a painful end to the Rockies’ modest four-game winning streak, made worse because they wasted an excellent start by Antonio Senzatela.And, following their tired, familiar M.O. on the road, the Rockies wasted multiple opportunities to score, leaving 10 men on base and going 1 for 5 with runners in scoring position.Senzatela, making his first start since suffering a torn ACL in his left knee on Aug. 18 at St. Louis, pitched a terrific game. Over five i...

Coyote enters Woodland Hills home through doggie door, gets spooked by house cat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

Video captures the tense moment a coyote enters a Woodland Hills home and stands off with a housecat in the middle of the night.The coyote is seen strolling into the living room through a doggie door around 4 a.m. before being greeted by a fierce, hissing cat.The cat is darting around on dining chairs as the coyote appears apprehensive and spooked by the feline.The homeowner, Mia Shoshan, said her brother was sleeping when he heard the doggie door open in the living room. He looked around, but noticed his two dogs were with him and his mother so he was curious who had come through the door.“Our cat, Lily, started meowing and screaming, she was terrified and calling for us to help,” recalls Shoshan.Shoshan's brother left his room and entered the living room where he came face-to-face with the coyote. As soon as the coyote spotted him, it dashed out the doggie door, she said. SoCal man who saved baby in runaway stroller had been homeless, now has new job A home security camera captu...

Accused Los Gatos party mom asked judge what she’d get if she pleaded guilty. She has her answer.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

The Los Gatos mom charged with arranging drunken sex-fueled parties for her teen son and his friends got her answer from a judge Friday on what her sentence would be if she pleaded guilty to charges in the case that rocked her upscale Silicon Valley community: seventeen years and four months behind bars.That’s a bit shy of the 20-year maximum sentence that prosecutors pushed for but much more than the eight years that Shannon O’Connor was hoping for. Parents of some of O’Connor’s teen victims shared the judge’s proposal with the Bay Area News Group on Friday after being informed by the District Attorney’s office.Now it’s up to O’Connor, jailed since her bombshell October 2021 arrest, to decide whether to take Judge Elizabeth C. Peterson’s offer or press on with her defense against the charges. She pleaded innocent in the hope that a jury might knock down some of the 39 counts against her.O’Connor’s lawyer, Brian Madde...

SF Giants update: Crawford ramps up activity, Johnson cleared to play, Wood talks rehab start

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO – With the Giants wanting to stay within earshot of the National League West lead, shortstop Brandon Crawford said he remains hopeful he’ll be available to play next week after he becomes eligible to come off the injured list.Crawford exited last Saturday’s game in Mexico City against the San Diego Padres with right calf tightness, and an ensuing MRI revealed what was a close to a Grade 2 strain.Crawford has been hitting and briefly did some field work Friday before the Giants hosted the Milwaukee Brewers in the first of a three-game set at Oracle Park. Crawford, per the team, is slated to begin a running progression over the weekend.“Initially, I didn’t think it would be that much of a strain just based on how I felt — and how I felt after past strains, where I either played through it or maybe gave it a couple of days,” Crawford said. “That’s kind of how it felt to me, but we got the MRI and it came back almost a Grade 2.“So, it’s defini...

Proud Boys verdict boosts DoJ in Trump investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

By Alanna Durkin Richer, Michael Kunzelman and Eric Tucker | Associated PressWASHINGTON — Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio wasn’t even in Washington when members of his extremist group, angry over Donald Trump ‘s election loss, stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Yet federal prosecutors, using his words, won a conviction on the most serious charge levied in the insurrection.The seditious conspiracy guilty verdicts of Tarrio and three lieutenants handed down Thursday — after a contentious and erratic trial that lasted more than twice as long as expected — bolster the Justice Department’s record in its historic prosecution of the Capitol attack. The investigation has now led to convictions against two top extremist group leaders on a legally complex charge that’s rarely ever brought and can be difficult to prove.The verdicts could further embolden the Justice Department and special counsel Jack Smith as they dig into efforts by Trump and his allies to und...