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Report: Colorado pot sales continuing to decline

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:43 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Recreational and medical marijuana sale numbers showed a continued steep decline, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue. The marijuana sales report showed that February had $124 million in marijuana sales, down from more than $145 million in sales in February of 2022. That’s a 14.2% decrease in marijuana sales from February 2022 overall, including a 12.7% year-over-year decrease in recreational sales and a 23.7% decrease in medical sales.  What do you need to make to feel like you’re actually earning 6 figures in Denver? This decline also impacts state tax collection. Colorado collected 19% less in cannabis tax revenue in March 2023 versus March of the previous year. Industry experts said fewer tax dollars have far-reaching impacts. “Our industry supports thousands of jobs and public programs that Coloradans care about like affordable housing, public safety, mental health and addiction treatment, education and more,” said Tiffany Goldman, board chair...

Drivers react after Broward County mayor updates public about gas problems

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:43 GMT

Drivers waited in long lines at local gas stations in South Florida after historic flooding affected fuel at the pump, but officials said there is no shortage. They did, however, ask the public to have patience.A news conference at Port Everglades took place Monday morning where Broward County Mayor Lamar Fisher spoke on the matter. On Sunday, residents experienced the backup of fuel access as lines curved onto the streets outside of gas stations all across Miami-Dade and Broward. According to Fisher, fuel trucks were unable to access gas shipments due to the flooding. As of Monday night, many gas stations had run out, and the gas stations that did have supply were experiencing long lines. “They said they very low on gas and are trying to reset the pumps,” said a woman at a Chevron. “Jesus take the wheel, I got two miles to empty,” said Tonya Melto. A Chevron located on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and South 35th Avenue pumped its last drop of gas as peo...

The owner of Insider and Politico tells journalists: AI is coming for your jobs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:43 GMT

(CNN) — One of Europe’s biggest media groups has warned journalists that artificial intelligence (AI) could steal their jobs, and has provided tips for how reporters can avoid the chop.The chief executive of Axel Springer — which owns Insider, Politico and German tabloid newspaper Bild — told employees in a memo Tuesday that “artificial Intelligence has the potential to make independent journalism better than it ever was — or simply replace it.”In the memo, shared with CNN, MathiasDöpfner predicts that AI willsoon be able to aggregate information much better than humans, and urges newsrooms to place a greater emphasis on commentary, exclusive news and investigations that can’t be done by machines.Journalists would still be needed to understand people’s “true motives”, he said.“In short, the creation of exclusive and attractive content remains irreplaceable and is going to become even more critical to success for publishers,”...

US, Mexican officials search for 3 American sailors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:43 GMT

(CNN) — The US Coast Guard is assisting Mexican navy crews in the search for three American sailors, last heard from on April 4 near Mazatlán, Mexico, according to a Coast Guard news release.Kerry O’Brien, Frank O’Brien and William Gross are all “experienced sailors,” according to a joint statement from their families. They were aboard the Ocean Bound, a 44-foot La Fitte sailing vessel when they left the Mexican city of Mazatlán en route to San Diego, the Coast Guard said.“The sailors planned to stop in Cabo San Lucas on April 6 for provisions and to report in before continuing on to San Diego,” the news release said.“However, there was no record of them arriving in Cabo San Lucas or a report in of their location.”Rescue coordinators have contacted marinas throughout Baja, Mexico, but there have been no sightings of the vessel, the news release said.“Urgent marine information broadcasts have been issued over VHF radio reque...

We killed Ukrainian children, ex-Wagner soldiers say in apparent confession

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:43 GMT

KYIV — Two former commanders of the Russian paramilitary organization known as the Wagner group claim they killed more than 20 Ukrainian children and teens in Bakhmut and the Donetsk region, in video interviews posted by a Russian human rights organization.During the hourlong video, ex-Wagner commanders Azmat Uldarov and Alexey Savichev recount details of various killings, including using explosives to blow up pits with more than 50 wounded prisoners and killing their own compatriots who refused to continue with the invasion. These incidents, which apparently took place in Soledar in the Donetsk region and Bakhmut in February this year, have not yet been independently verified. In the video, the former Wagner pair also told Vladimir Osechkin — head of Gulagu.net, the Russian human rights group that published the video, currently operating in exile in France — how the group killed dozens of civilians during the clearing of residential buildings in Bakhmut and...

Ukraine hits out at Brazil’s Lula: Come here to grasp ‘real causes’ of war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:43 GMT

A Ukrainian official on Tuesday invited Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to visit the country himself to “understand the real causes and essence of Russian aggression.”Lula sparked controversy among Ukrainian allies at the weekend, by urging the United States to “stop encouraging” the war in Ukraine.“The approach that puts the victim and the aggressor on the same scale and accuses countries that help Ukraine defend itself against deadly aggression of encouraging war is not in line with the real state of affairs,” said Oleg Nikolenko, spokesperson for the Ukrainian foreign ministry.“The war of aggression is being waged on Ukrainian soil and is causing untold suffering and destruction,” he added.During a visit to China last week, Lula added that the U.S. and the EU should “start talking about peace.”This, the Brazilian president said, would help “convince Putin and Zelenskyy that peace is in the interest of...

Russian court dismisses Wall Street Journal reporter’s appeal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:43 GMT

MOSCOW — A Moscow city court on Tuesday dismissed American journalist Evan Gershkovich’s appeal to be released from a high-security jail where he is being held on espionage charges.  Gershkovich’s defense team had requested that the Wall Street Journal correspondent be transferred to house arrest, another jail or released on bail. Although the outcome of the appeal hearing was never really in doubt, it was significant as the first time Gershkovich has been seen in public since he was arrested last month in the Ural mountains’ city of Yekaterinburg. Confined to a glass cage, as is customary for defendants facing criminal charges in Russia, Gershkovich seemed tense but composed. Ahead of the hearing he even flashed a couple of smiles at some of those colleagues and attendants he recognized, before the courtroom was emptied and the hearing began. Espionage cases in Russia are veiled in secrecy and held behind closed doors.A handful of journalists were al...

Armenia vows to recognize disputed Nagorno-Karabakh as Azerbaijan amid rising tensions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:43 GMT

Armenia’s prime minister has given the strongest signal yet that he is prepared to acknowledge Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, while urging the EU and Russia to help prevent a catastrophic new conflict in the South Caucasus.Speaking in parliament Tuesday, Nikol Pashinyan said his government “reaffirmed that the Republic of Armenia fully recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan” and called for a peace treaty to be signed with the neighboring nation “without ambiguities and pitfalls.” In return, he said, Baku should recognize Armenia’s territory within its Soviet-era borders.The move effectively accepts Baku’s sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh, two and a half years on from a brutal war over the breakaway region that is home to tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians who have for decades refused to be governed by Azerbaijan. In September, Pashinyan was forced to deny he was poised to recognize A...

EU excess deaths back to pre-pandemic levels  

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:43 GMT

For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were no excess deaths in the EU, according to data from February. While the figure is an average across all EU countries and there is no guarantee that it won’t rise again, the return to pre-pandemic level marks a significant moment as countries debate whether COVID-19 should still be considered an ongoing pandemic. Excess mortality figures have been an essential tool to understand how many additional people were dying above the levels that would have been seen under ‘normal’ situations. The statistic takes the number of people who died from any cause during a particular period and compares it with figures from previous years when there wasn’t a COVID-19 pandemic.In February, two-thirds of EU countries recorded no excess deaths, according to data from Eurostat, compared with the average over the same period in 2016-2019. However, several countries did see excess mortality, including Greece, Cyprus, Portugal...

New England Aquarium releases dozens of rehabilitated sea turtles into ocean waters off North Carolina

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:43 GMT

The New England Aquarium released two dozen sea turtles into the ocean waters off North Carolina on Monday after the animals underwent months of rehabilitative care at the aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital in Quincy. Biologists from the aquarium drove the 24 turtles down to Fort Fisher, N.C., and released them Monday as a crowd of bystanders looked on. Courtesy of New England AquariumThe release comes after the turtles were treated for conditions including pneumonia, dehydration, and bone fractures, a result of being unable to regulate their body temperature in the cold waters of Cape Cod Bay. After veterinarians cleared the group of turtles to return to the ocean, the aquarium organized a ground transport to North Carolina, where the waters are warm enough in the springtime for the turtles to reacclimate.“This is the best time of the year for us. Getting the turtles back to their ocean home is why we do this, in hopes that each one of these turtles helps their population bounce ...