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New kids attraction coming to SeaWorld 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:59 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A new attraction is coming soon to SeaWorld San Diego.The kid-friendly play area, called "Rescue Jr," will be a place for children who want to learn about animal rescue and rehabilitation through hands-on, active and engaging experiences, the theme park said in a release Wednesday.The future addition includes play elements, a splash pad, water features, climbing structures and rides, according to SeaWorld. Kids can also check out real rescue vehicles, an obstacle course, puzzles fun animal facts and tips on how to help conservation. Disneyland announces re-opening dates for attractions scheduled to close in June “No matter how young, my hope is that all guests come away with a better understanding of how important it is to be a part of protecting the animals around us and maybe we can be the spark that ignites a passion in kids to become animal rescuers, scientists, veterinarians or conservationists,” said Jim Lake, SeaWorld San Diego Park President. On...

Suspect in Natalee Holloway disappearance to be extradited from Peru to US to face fraud charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:59 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Peru’s government issued an executive order Wednesday allowing the temporary extradition to the United States of the prime suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba.The Peruvian Embassy in Washington told The Associated Press the order allows for the extradition of Dutchman Joran van der Sloot to be prosecuted for alleged extortion and wire fraud, charges stemming from the Holloway case. Holloway’s body was never found, and no charges were filed against Van der Sloot in the case. A judge later declared Holloway dead.Prosecutors in the U.S. allege Van der Sloot accepted $25,000 in cash from Holloway’s family in exchange for a promise to lead them to her body in early 2010, just before he went to Peru. Holloway was from Mountain Brook, Alabama.Van der Sloot is serving 28 years in prison in Peru for being convicted of murdering 21-year-old Peruvian student Stephany Flores after meeting...

Great Woll: Rookie goaltender saves Maple Leafs from playoff elimination

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:59 GMT

The Toronto Maple Leafs survive to play another day. Mitch Marner had a goal and assist for the Maple Leafs, and rookie netminder Joseph Woll turned aside 24 of 25 shots he faced as the Maple Leafs defeated the Florida Panthers 2-1 Wednesday night to avoid a sweep in their second-round playoff series. Woll, who started in place of the injured Ilya Samsonov, became the first rookie to start a playoff game for the Maple Leafs since Felix Potvin in 1993. William Nylander opened the scoring on the power play three minutes into the second period while Marner’s third of the playoffs at the 10-minute mark of the third period proved to be the eventual game-winner. The Leafs’ star-forward quartet of Auston Matthews, Nylander, John Tavares and Marner had combined for zero goals through the first three games of the series. This was Toronto’s first win in the second round of the playoffs since April 2004. Sam Reinhart scored the lone goal for the Panthers on the power play wit...

New York City sticking with migrant hotel plan despite pushback from suburbs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:59 GMT

A plan by New York City officials to send some migrants seeking asylum to hotels in northern suburbs was met with fierce resistance by local leaders, leading to a delay in an initial transfer that had been touted for Wednesday even as the city insisted its plans hadn’t changed.Mayor Eric Adams had caused an uproar north of the city by announcing Friday that the city would send north up to 300 single, adult men to two hotels in suburban Rockland County and neighboring Orange County for up to four months. The Democratic mayor’s plan comes as the city struggles to deal with a surge of about 60,000 asylum-seekers since last spring, many of whom were bused to the city by out-of-state governors.New York City officials had intended to move forward with at least part of the plan and send “a small number of asylum seekers” to Orange County on Wednesday, Adams spokesperson Fabien Levy said in a statement.But by the end of the day, no migrants had arrived at the hotel, identified b...

Ex-California cheerleading coach charged with molesting girls

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:59 GMT

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A former competitive cheerleading coach has been charged with molesting girls as young as 11 years old in Southern California and he faces similar charges in Florida, prosecutors said Wednesday.Erick Joseph Kristianson, 44, of Antioch, Tennessee, was arrested last week in Fargo, North Dakota, on a warrant, the Orange County district attorney’s office said in a statement.He was extradited back to California and was being held without bail on Wednesday, according to an Orange County Sheriff’s Department website.It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had an attorney to speak on his behalf. A message to the DA’s office asking whether he had counsel wasn’t immediately returned.In California, he is accused of molesting girls ages 11 to 16 while coaching at the Magic All-Stars club, a competitive cheer club, and while he was an assistant cheer coach at Trabuco Hills High School in Mission Viejo in the 2000s, prosecutors said. He is fac...

Juror who listened to conservative podcaster Tim Pool joined verdict against Donald Trump

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for E. Jean Carroll tried unsuccessfully to get a man booted off the jury that found former President Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse because he occasionally listens to the provocative podcaster Tim Pool, newly unsealed court records revealed Wednesday.The 31-year-old male juror ultimately joined eight other anonymous jurors in delivering a unanimous verdict Tuesday awarding Carroll $5 million in damages, finding that Trump abused the magazine columnist in 1996 at a luxury Manhattan department store.Trump denied ever knowing Carroll and said the encounter at Bergdorf Goodman never happened. The jury rejected Carroll’s claim that she was raped.At one point in the trial, Carroll’s attorneys secretly complained to the judge that the scale might be tipped against their client because Juror No. 77 “was biased in ways requiring his dismissal from the jury.”In a court filing on April 30 that was initially sealed, they noted that the juror, a Bronx man who worke...

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos withdraws from PEN America gala, citing writers strike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Citing the current Hollywood writers strike, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos will not be attending next week’s PEN America Gala in Manhattan, when he was to accept a Business Visionary Award. PEN America responded by withdrawing the honor, saying the winner is expected to accept in person.The Gala, to be held May 14 at the American Museum of Natural History, is one of the year’s literary highlights and will feature the presentation of several awards, including one to “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels for Literary Service.“Given the threat to disrupt this wonderful evening, I thought it was best to pull out so as not to distract from the important work that PEN America does for writers and journalists, as well as the celebration of my friend and personal hero Lorne Michaels,” Sarandos said in a statement released Wednesday by Netflix. “I hope the evening is a great success.”A PEN spokesperson said that no one this year will be given the Bus...

North Carolina governor makes last-minute plea to block new abortion limits

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:59 GMT

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s Democratic governor rallied residents and local doctors Wednesday in Wilmington as part of a last-minute bid to persuade at least one Republican lawmaker to sustain his expected veto of a bill banning most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy.The visit marks the second day of Gov. Roy Cooper’s cross-state campaign to urge the constituents of four GOP state legislators to demand they uphold abortion access after expressing hesitance about further restrictions during their election campaigns last year. Cooper singled out Reps. Tricia Cotham and John Bradford of Mecklenburg County and Rep. Ted Davis and Sen. Michael Lee of New Hanover County after Republicans fast-tracked legislation last week to impose more stringent limits beyond the current 20 weeks. He plans to veto the bill Saturday at a rally in Raleigh, but party-line votes for passage and assurances from legislative leaders indicate it will likely be overridden. Flanked by h...

‘High dosage tutoring’ helps close the COVID learning gap in Chicago Public Schools

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:59 GMT

CHICAGO — At Moos Elementary School in Humboldt Park, Chicago Public Schools students are learning the standard subjects like reading and arithmetic. But, they’re also learning the difference between something that’s gone, and something that’s gone missing.“They missed like two years,” said Tabarak Abdulkareem, a CPS math tutor. “Those are really major years for them to learn, especially in math and reading. But those gaps are really large at this point. This is why like tutors are needed to fill those gaps up for the students.”She’s talking about the learning gaps created by the pandemic, when the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe closing restaurants, businesses, theatres, and schools. For more Cover Story content, click here Third grader Yadiel Ulloa remembers feeling scared and isolated.  “We (could not) go to school,” he said. “There (were) a lot of people dying. And it was a bunch of people's family members. It was sad.”Young students suddenly saw their living ro...

MedWatch Daily Digest: Over the counter birth control pill, body weight & colon cancer, menthol may sharpen the mind

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:59 GMT

For Wednesday, May 10, WGN’s Medical Reporter Dina Bair has the latest on new information including the following: More Coverage: WGN's Medical Watch An FDA advisory panel gives the nod for over the counter birth control pillBody weight may have an impact on the development of colon cancerInhaling menthol wakes people up and it may sharpen the mind