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Winter holiday fire safety tips, statistics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:33 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The holiday season often includes festive light displays and decorations, which can sometimes present fire risks.The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) said U.S. fire departments respond to nearly 800 fires a year caused by holiday lights and decorations.“These fires caused an annual average of 4 civilian fire deaths, 33 civilian fire injuries and $14 million in direct property damage,” NFPA said.According to the association, nearly one in five Christmas tree fires began with lamps or bulbs, and 8% were started by candles.“Candle fires peak in December and January with 11 percent of candle fires in each of these months,” NFPA said.NFPA provided the following winter holiday safety tips:Winter_Holiday_SafetyDownload

Staying safe from bears during forage season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:33 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – As the fall season winds down to winter, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said Thursday people in western, southwestern and northeastern portions of Texas could find themselves in the unwelcome company of black bears. TPWD said the native Texas animals are guided by an excellent sense of smell and their behavior is driven largely by appetite. Fall provides their last opportunity to feast before they start denning up for the winter, TPWD said.The department warned the bears' natural instincts to forage become a problem when they find easy meals from humans, such as garbage, pet food or corn from a deer feeder. If a bear continually finds food around humans, TPWD said it can become habituated, losing its fear of people and creating a potentially dangerous situation.TPWD encouraged people outdoors to:stay alert and togetherkeep dogs leasheddouble bag food and trash while hiking or campingcamp safelyknow what to do if you see a bearTPWD said black bears are protec...

Schenectady County opens 30-day review period to enroll property in agricultural district

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:33 GMT

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Beginning Friday, residents in Schenectady County will have until Saturday, December 30 to enroll and be accepted as part of the county's agriculture district. This annual review period looks to encourage the use of farmland for agricultural production and maintain the agricultural industry in the county. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! Those interested in applying can do so online. According to the county, after the 30-day review period, applications will be reviewed by the County’s Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board. The County Legislature will hold a public meeting and there will be a final vote taken by the Legislature to include additional parcels in the Agricultural District.“Agricultural Districts were created to give counties a mechanism to assist landowners in conserving open spaces and enhancing the viability of farming within their borders,” said Anthony Jasenski, Chair of the Sc...

Colorado’s long COVID clinics can’t meet demand, so health leaders look to expand treatment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:33 GMT

Colorado doesn’t have enough capacity to treat everyone suffering with long COVID at the three specialized clinics in the state, so public health leaders are trying to figure out ways for more people to get the care they need closer to home.Three multidisciplinary clinics in the state see long COVID patients, at National Jewish Health in Denver, UCHealth in Aurora and Family Health West in Fruita. Together, they’ve treated about 10,000 people since mid-2020 — a significant number, but nowhere near everyone in need, said Dr. Sarah Jolley, medical director of the UCHealth Post-COVID Clinic.Researchers estimated in November 2022 that between 228,000 and 651,000 Coloradans had symptoms that lingered after a COVID-19 infection, what has become known as long COVID.Some people have relatively mild symptoms, such as loss of smell, while others are unable to work or care for themselves because of extreme fatigue or “brain fog.” Some report their conditions impro...

“Letters of Suresh” is as beguiling as an origami bird | Theater review

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:33 GMT

When playwright Rajiv Joseph’s drama “Letters of Suresh” opens, Father Hashimoto has been dead for two weeks. In the Curious Theatre Company’s nuanced production (through Dec. 9), his grandniece, Melody Park (Desirée Mee Jung), is in her living room in Seattle writing a letter to a man named Suresh to let him know.While clearing out the priest’s room at a church in Nagasaki, Japan, Melody came across the cache of letters that Suresh sent Hashimoto over the years and wonders if he’d like them back. She also wonders who this relative she never knew — her mother’s uncle — was … and sometimes she just wonders.Desirée Mee Jung plays Melody Park in “Letters of Suresh” at the Curious Theatre Company. (Michael Ensminger, provided by Curious Theatre Company)“I don’t remember the last time I wrote a letter … . I don’t remember the last time I wrote anything,”  Melody, a writing teacher, writes to this unknown Suresh, tapping on her laptop and aware of the wincing irony...

Firefighters fall from 2nd floor battling blaze in downtown Los Angeles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:33 GMT

Two firefighters are OK after falling through the second floor of a two-story downtown Los Angeles area office building that erupted in flames Friday morning.Crews responded to a fire burning outside the structure in the 1000 block of West Sunset Boulevard around 1 a.m.Firefighters respond to an office building blaze in downtown Los Angeles on Dec. 1, 2023. (OnScene.TV)The flames eventually extended into the building, believed to house medical offices, and traveled to the second floor, the Los Angeles Fire Department stated in a news alert. "There was a partial floor collapse on the 2nd floor which impacted two firefighters," the Fire Department posted. The firefighters were not injured and crews continued to battle the blaze aggressively.It took nearly an hour for the 68 firefighters to extinguish the blaze, the fire department stated. Arson investigators were sent to the scene. “The arson investigation is here … undetermined at this time as to how this fire started,” LAFD Assistan...

Wish Book: Preventing homelessness and hunger in Sunnyvale

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:33 GMT

Things were looking up for Benjamin Johnson. After a few years living out of his car in Fremont, he’d landed an apartment in Sunnyvale and a steady job as a cook at a bar and grill in town.He was even in line for a raise, set to take home $2,500 a month.Then suddenly in January, the main artery to his heart tore open, sending him to intensive care and stripping him of the use of his legs.“I’m glad to be here,” Johnson said. “Because everybody said it’s slim to none chances that you’re making it.”But without being able to work and soon facing eviction, Johnson, 45, was unsure how he would endure the grueling recovery ahead.In March, one of his former roommates reached out to Sunnyvale Community Services, and a caseworker with the nonprofit quickly got to work helping Johnson sign up for disability benefits and rental assistance. The group also negotiated a deal with Johnson’s landlord to let him stay in the apartment for another s...

Will the first cemetery built in San Jose since the 1880s come to Coyote Valley?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:33 GMT

The latest in a long line of battles to develop Silicon Valley’s most coveted green space is finally coming to a head after years of anticipation.And this time, it may be the difference between life and death.Heritage Oaks Memorial Park in Coyote Valley could become the first San Jose cemetery to be built in almost 140 years as developers argue the city is in desperate need of more space to bury its dead.But local environmentalists are having none of it. Denouncing the project, they claim the 275-acre site would disturb critical wildlife crossings in the predominantly agricultural area. The last major bureaucratic hurdle to get the project officially approved could come as early as next year.It’s not the first time builders have faced resistance in the Coyote Valley region. In early November, county officials killed a plan to build an 8,465-square-foot home in the area after voting to allow a local environmental agency to purchase the site through eminent domain. Tech co...

Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week: Zakara Cooper, Cornerstone Christian basketball

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:33 GMT

Cornerstone Christian basketball player Zakara Cooper is the Bay Area News Group’s girls athlete of the week for Nov. 20-25 after she received 36.68% of the vote by the deadline Wednesday.Oakland Tech flag football player Jhai Johnson finished second.Congratulations to all the candidates for this week’s recognition.Related ArticlesHigh School Sports | Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week: Kevin Chapman, Moreau Catholic basketball High School Sports | Poll closed: Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week High School Sports | Poll closed: Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week High School Sports | Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week: Charley Staats, Valley Christian volleyball High School Sports | Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week: Jaxen Robinson, Christopher football Cooper, a junior, carried the Cornerstone Christian offense in a season-opening victory over Libert...

Is 49ers-Eagles the biggest game of the year? Don’t ask the Niners

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:33 GMT

SANTA CLARA — It’s finally here: 49ers vs. Eagles on Sunday. Brock Purdy and Jalen Hurts. The Brotherly Shove. The bitter 49ers howling at the injustice of losing Purdy, whose elbow was rendered useless after a Haason Reddick sack off the edge with 7:03 left in the first quarter in the NFC title game.The Eagles won 31-7 and went on to lose 38-35 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. When the 2023 schedule arrived on May 11, it contained the Dec. 3 gift of a 49ers-Eagles rematch in Philadelphia.The most anticipated regular-season game of the season has arrived. Mainstream and social media are abuzz. Columnists and bloggers are weighing in. It’s the biggest topic on local radio in the Bay Area and Philadelphia, not to mention national platforms such as the NFL Network and ESPN.Yet at 4949 Marie P. DeBartolo way in Santa Clara and the NovaCare Complex in Philadelphia, Jan. 29 is very much yesterday’s news. That’s the way coach Kyle Shanahan wants it...