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What’s new, pussycat? Malta launches massive €200K neutering scheme

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:00 GMT

Malta’s government isn’t pussyfooting around.Valletta on Wednesday announced a €200,000 stray cat neutering program to tackle mass feline overpopulation on the Mediterranean island.Malta has long struggled with cat numbers, with some foster carers last summer reporting being overwhelmed by the number of stray kittens — but authorities are now paw-sitive they have a solution.“Cats will continue to be neutered until the funds are exhausted and the initiative renewed — until the problem is solved,” said Maltese Animal Rights Minister Anton Refalo.According to the Times of Malta, only €50,000 had originally been earmarked for neutering stray cats but that amount has now been bumped up, as the government shows its claws.The neutering campaign will begin on July 4.

BMC Team Chosen To Redevelop Jamaica Plain Hospital Campus

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:00 GMT

The state on Wednesday announced that Boston Medical Center has been provisionally designated to lead the redevelopment of the sprawling Lemuel Shattuck Hospital Campus on Morton Street in Jamaica Plain. The BMC team’s initial proposal calls for two facilities with 326 treatment beds, 200 units of permanent supportive housing, 205 units of family supportive housing, 120 emergency housing beds, and more than seven acres of green and open space. The state issued a request for proposals in June 2022. The site is deed-restricted for public health use, and the state described its vision for the site as “an innovative campus that promotes health, reduces barriers to treatment, integrates physical and behavioral health care with supportive housing, and prioritizes connections to the natural environment.” On its website, the state Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance said that the state had received one proposal by last August, from Boston Medical Center an...

Woman who abandoned newborn in Maine gravel pit in 1985 sentenced to 6 years

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:00 GMT

HOULTON, Maine (AP) — A Massachusetts woman who abandoned her newborn daughter to die in a gravel pit in northern Maine on a cold winter day in 1985 has been sentenced to six years in prison.Lee Ann Daigle, of Lowell, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to manslaughter after DNA evidence helped police solve the decades-old crime. The baby’s body was discovered after a dog found it in the gravel pit and took it to a family’s front lawn in Frenchville.Daigle gave a tearful apology in court on Tuesday, saying she panicked instead of seeking help.“I could’ve done more. I should’ve done more,” she told the judge.Her name was Lee Ann Guerrette when police were alerted to the grisly discovery on Dec. 7, 1985. Detectives tracked the dog’s path to the gravel pit where the baby had been born and abandoned in sub-zero temperatures.The death of Baby Jane Doe went unsolved for years until a DNA match provided a break in the case, leading to Daigle’s indictment last year. In the inter...

Waukegan has vacant lakefront land available for potential Chicago Bears stadium

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:00 GMT

As the Chicago Bears consider whether to build a new stadium on the former Arlington International Racecourse they own, remain at Soldier Field or consider invitations to move from other municipalities, Waukegan has several potential lakefront sites to consider.One of the parcels — the former Johns Manville site north of Greenview Avenue — is more than 300 acres, rivaling the onetime racetrack in size. Two other locations just north of the city beach can be combined into a 90-acre site.City officials currently look forward to listening to proposals from potential developers, including the Bears, on nearly 400 acres north of the beach to turn the site of onetime Rust Belt factories into something suitable for the 21st century.Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor wrote to Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren June 12 inviting the team to consider Waukegan as a location for its new stadium. She mentioned it as a way to keep the team playing its games along Lake Michigan, as it does now...

Missing OceanGate Expeditions Titanic sub updates: Rescuers hear underwater noises, ‘there is cause for hope’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:00 GMT

The rescuers searching for the missing OceanGate Expeditions sub with five people on board have heard underwater noises in the search area, some “cause for hope” with limited time left to find the sub that explores the Titanic wreck site.The U.S. Coast Guard out of Boston and partner agencies have been desperately searching for the missing 21-foot submersible research vessel.The sub on Sunday morning lost contact during a dive, about 900 miles east of Cape Cod. Thursday is when the 96-hour oxygen supply is expected to end for the five people on board.Early Wednesday morning, the Coast Guard shared that some underwater noises have been heard in the remote area of the North Atlantic Ocean.“Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater noises in the search area,” the First Coast Guard District tweeted. “As a result, ROV (remotely operated vehicle underwater) operations were relocated in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises. Those ROV searches have yi...

Explosion hits a building in Paris, injuring 16. Police are trying to determine the cause

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:00 GMT

PARIS (AP) — A strong explosion hit a building in Paris’ Left Bank on Wednesday, leaving at least 16 injured and igniting a fire that sent smoke soaring over city monuments and prompted the evacuation of surrounding buildings, police said. The cause of the blast was not immediately known. The facade of a building in the 5th arrondissement, or district, collapsed and emergency services were working to determine if anyone was still inside, a Paris police official said. The explosion hit near the historic Val de Grace military hospital.Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told reporters there were 16 people injured, including seven in “emergency condition.” The authorities did not specify whether the injured were in life-threatening condition.The fire was contained but not extinguished, Nunez said. Florence Berthout, mayor of the arrondissement, said, “The explosion was extremely violent,” describing pieces of glass still falling from buildings.The polic...

Getting more EVs will require recycling more old batteries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:00 GMT

By 2040, 20,500 kilotons of used electric vehicle batteries could enter the recycling stream every year — roughly the weight of a fully loaded Boeing 747 every 11 minutes — according to the consulting firm McKinsey & Company. That’s up from 50 kilotons in 2020.“All the people that are doing what we do are scrambling to basically get these facilities in place to get ready for that amount of material that’s going to be passing through the system,” says Roger Lin, vice president of global marketing and government relations at Ascend Elements, a battery recycling company.The environmental benefits of recycling are clear — pound for pound, recycled battery material typically emits much less greenhouse gas than an equivalent amount of mined material. Recycling will play a pivotal role in manufacturing and ownership, too.Making enough EVs to meet growing demand and selling them at prices consumers won’t balk at will require a supply of battery material that mining alone can’t sup...

DCF takes custody of four children found in apartment with ‘alcohol, drugs, sex toys,’ Healey says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:00 GMT

Four children who were found in a disturbing South Boston apartment alongside a dead man over the weekend have been taken into state custody as officials investigate why they were in the presence of alcohol, drugs, and sex toys, Gov. Maura Healey said Wednesday.A Boston Fire Department incident report said first responders found the children, who are 5 to 10 years old, on Saturday morning in “extremely unsanitary conditions” and in a back bedroom where an adult male was in the process of hiding them.Healey said the Department of Children and Families, which works to keep children safe from abuse and neglect, had taken the four children into their care. She said the situation was “absolutely heartbreaking.”“We’ll do everything we can to provide them support and services. The matter is being investigated, obviously,” Healey told reporters at the State House. “I will do, and our administration will do, whatever we can to lend support with any investigation.”The fire departm...

SDG&E customers can earn bill credits with this incentive program

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Summer savings on your SDG&E bill begins with signing up for an incentive program that rewards customers with bill credits. Those enrolled in the Power Saver Rewards Program can earn money towards their bill by conserving energy during heat waves.SDG&E says customers will be incentivized for reducing electricity use on days when the statewide grid is stressed by high demand.According to the utilities company, enrolled customers who conserved during the summer 2022 heat wave earned more than $11 million in bill credits.  Firefighters battle five blazes at once across San Diego County “Customers receive a double benefit when they participate in Power Saver Rewards and conserve energy: 1) they can save on their energy bill, and 2) they help to keep the grid reliable for all Californians on hot summer days when the grid is stressed,” said SDG&E Director of Customer Programs Hollie Bierman. “The grid is interconnected statewide, and we appreciate our custo...

Wave FC's Naomi Girma, Alex Morgan named to USWNT World Cup roster

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO — San Diego Wave FC stars Naomi Girma and Alex Morgan have been named to the U.S. Women's National Team roster for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.Girma, the first overall pick in the 2022 National Women's Soccer League draft and the first player drafted in Wave history, will be making her World Cup debut. During her 2022 rookie season, the 23-year-old defender earned both NWSL Rookie of the Year and Defender of the Year honors.Morgan, a USWNT legend, will be playing in her fourth World Cup and has made a name for herself as one of the most prolific goal scorers in international history. The 33-year-old forward has racked up 121 goals and 49 assists for the U.S., helping the team win gold in the 2015 and 2019 Women's World Cups.In Dec. 2021, Morgan was announced as the first player to sign with the Wave ahead of their inaugural season in 2022. She has earned 22 goals and six assists with the club, winning the NWSL Golden Boot award in 2022, which is presented to the top s...