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‘Sharks suffer from a bad reputation’: Researchers look at peoples’ perceptions of sharks in new study

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

While sharks have been seen as “bloodthirsty man eaters” that are out to get you in the ocean, a new study shows that people learning about sharks can reduce their fears and boost conservation efforts for the apex predators.Shark researchers in the first-of-its-kind study looked at peoples’ perceptions of sharks. Overall, people were more likely to support sharks if they believed the animals could think, feel, or reason.The study’s results could help conservation groups raise awareness and support for threatened species that may be viewed negatively by humans, according to the scientists from Cal State Long Beach.“Sharks suffer from a bad reputation,” said Gabriella Hancock, an assistant professor of psychology at Cal State Long Beach. “Everybody remembers those one or two shark incidents that they see on the news, but they don’t take into consideration the tens of millions of people that go into the ocean every day and don’t eve...

Crime Briefs: Andover-based mail-order pharmacy has to pay $10M for opioid prescription problems, Lakeville woman accused of $3M lottery fraud

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

It may not be a household name, but the feds say that Injured Workers Pharmacy is the largest purchaser of opioids among retail pharmacies in the U.S. — and that they’re on a $10 million hook for distributing the drugs regardless of obvious “red flags.”“Last week brought disturbing reports that opioid overdose deaths only increased last year in Massachusetts. Pharmacies are on the front lines of the prescription pill and opioid epidemic devastating our communities,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy. “Pharmacies that distribute dangerous prescription pills have a solemn responsibility to comply with measures enacted to curb abuse and addiction.”Federal prosecutors reached an agreement with the Andover-based mail-order pharmacy that makes the company admit that between 2014 and 2019 it ignored “red flags” that its clients displayed that indicated their opioid prescriptions may not have been issued legitimately. Those indications include high doses, early refills and dangerous pre...

Trump promises mass deportations, reinstatement of presidential impoundment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

CONCORD, NH — Donald Trump’s second term as president would feature mass deportations and the reinstatement of the long-abandoned practice of executive impoundment, the 45th president said at a campaign stop.The ex-commander-in-chief was the keynote speaker at the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women’s 76th Lilac Luncheon on Tuesday, a traditional stop for presidential candidates visiting the first in the nation primary state in a nominating year.Trump, just weeks past his indictment on 37 federal felony charges stemming from his alleged mishandling of classified information, seemed entirely unshaken by the historic accusations leveled against him and stuck to his stream-of-thought campaign speech.“As you know you know, crooked Joe Biden ordered his top political opponent arrested!” Trump declared, not mentioning the grand jury that delivered the blow. “But because the public is really smart my numbers went up.”Trump isn’t wrong about his position in the 2024 president...

MBTA Red Line dragging death caused by ‘short circuit’ in train door

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

The Red Line door that clamped down on a man’s arm and caused the death that prompted last year’s federal investigation into the MBTA failed because of a short circuit, the National Transportation Safety Board states in a new report.An NTSB investigation determined that a short circuit in the “passenger door interlock circuit” allowed the train to thrust forward while a man, 39-year-old Robinson Lalin, was obstructing the door of one of the railcars on April 10, 2022.Lalin had been attempting to exit the train from the second of six railcars, but was dragged and killed as a result of the electrical failure, Tuesday’s report states, citing surveillance footage reviewed during the investigation.“According to the video, the doors closed on the accident passenger’s upper body on his right side as he stepped back onto the platform,” the report states. “As the train accelerated to depart the station, the passenger ran alongside the train with his upper body pinched between the doors.“The ...

Blue Jays’ Alek Manoah lit up by FCL Yankees in first rookie ball start since demotion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

Alek Manoah’s troubles on the mound followed him all the way down to the Florida Complex League.The Blue Jays’ struggling starter was recently demoted to rookie ball after his brutal start to the season — 6.36 ERA in 13 starts — to hit the reset button and work on his issues. However, it appears that the demotion has only added more fuel to the fire.Making his first appearance in the Florida Complex League against the Yankees squad, the 2022 All-Star experienced more of the same except in a much more humiliating fashion.Manoah surrendered 11 runs on 10 hits in 2.2 innings of work allowing two homers — one to Roderick Arias, the Yankees’ top international signing of 2022. The lineup that the 25-year-old was lit up by had an average age of 18.8.Five of the players in the lineup were born in 2004 or later.It’s likely not the start that Manoah or the Blue Jays wanted as the former ace was looking to regain his form. The right-hander entered this...

Fire destroys at least 1 home, other structures in Riverside County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

This is a developing story. Hit refresh for updates.A brush fire erupted in a rural community west of Perris in Riverside County Tuesday afternoon, destroying several structures and vehicles. The Juniper Fire was first reported around 2:30 p.m. in the area of Santa Rosa Mine Road and El Nido Road, and had spread to 50 acres as of 4 p.m., according to Cal Fire.Mandatory evacuations were ordered for homes south of Santa Rosa Mine Road, east of El Baquero Road, west of Maywood Club Road and north of Rocky Hills.A home burns in the Juniper Fire in Riverside County, California. June 27, 2023. (KTLA)Riverside County's Emergency Management Department opened an evacuation center at Pinacate Middle School at 1990 S. A Street in Perris.Crews were digging containment lines as air tankers and helicopters battled the fire from above with water and flame retardant. Sky5 footage shows at least four structures, including a home, and several cars were destroyed.Sky5 reporter Gil Leyves described the...

SeaWorld closes 'Electric Eel' rollercoaster after reported injury

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- SeaWorld's popular "Electric Eel" rollercoaster has been temporarily shut-down after a person was injured on the ride, California safety regulators said.A spokesperson for the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA)'s Amusement Parks and Tramways unit told FOX 5 that they received reports of the injury involving the ride on Friday, June 9, prompting an investigation into the incident.SeaWorld was subsequently asked to shut down the ride while Cal/OSHA teams determine what happened and evaluate the safety of the rollercoaster. VIDEO: Baby seal climbs onto Pacific Beach surfers’ boards According to Cal/OSHA, this probe could take up to six months. The Electric Eel will remain closed until the agency declares that the ride is safe to be reopened.Details surrounding the incident have not been disclosed by authorities. The extent of the injury that prompted the shutdown has also not been detailed.The Electric Eel is one of SeaWorld's most popular r...

Sexual abuse victims’ chance to file lawsuits in old cases remains in question after court ruling

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

The Louisiana Supreme Court on Tuesday sidestepped a ruling on the constitutionality of legislation that gives victims of childhood sexual abuse a renewed chance to file lawsuits after the usual time limits for such suits have expired. The ruling had been highly anticipated by advocates for abuse victims, who had hoped the state’s highest court would uphold the constitutionality of legislation passed in 2021 and revised in 2022. The legislation was passed by lawmakers under the theory that fear and stigma might have kept victims from revealing the abuse as children and into adulthood. Lawmakers debated it against the backdrop of ongoing global revelations of sex abuse of children by clergy. The Louisiana legislation gives victims until mid-2024 to file such lawsuits if they missed deadlines to file in existing law. Kathryn Robb, executive director of Child USAdvocacy, a national nonprofit agency that advocates for better child protection laws, decried the ruling as a missed op...

Couple arrested in fatal fentanyl overdoses at Hawaii hotel room

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Authorities have arrested a man and woman they say supplied the fentanyl in a mass overdose at an oceanfront Hawaii hotel that left two people dead. Avery Garrard and Keina Drageset were taken into custody Friday and are charged with conspiring with each other and others to distribute fentanyl that resulted in death, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday. Honolulu police and paramedics found five people who were either unresponsive or needed medical help at the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort on June 4. One man was pronounced dead at the scene, and another later died at a hospital. As of Tuesday, the Honolulu medical examiner’s office hadn’t determined a cause of death for either man.The three who survived told Drug Enforcement Administration investigators they had believed the drugs, which were acquired by one of the dead men, were cocaine or MDMA. “All three did not know the substance possibly contained fentanyl,” a DEA agent wrote in the c...

B.C. to provide up to 8,000 free air conditioners to low-income and vulnerable people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

British Columbia will provide up to 8,000 free portable air-conditioning units to keep vulnerable people cool and protected during extreme hot weather events, Health Minister Adrian Dix said.The minister announced the giveaway on Tuesday as the province marked the two-year anniversary of the heat-dome phenomenon that covered much of the province in 2021 and resulted in more than 600 deaths.Dix said the province will give its Crown power utility, BC Hydro, $10 million over three years to provide and install the air-conditioning units in the homes of people who are vulnerable and have low incomes, adding that the number of units could exceed 8,000 depending on demand.“This means more vulnerable people will have access to cooling devices when we experience high temperatures and can keep themselves and their loved ones safer from extreme heat,” he said at a news conference.A death review panel by the BC Coroners Service found that most of the 619 people who died as a result ...