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Grand Canyon 'packrafting' conviction brings $2,500 fine, ban from national parks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:55 GMT

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Samuel H. Edwards will have to pay a $2,500 fine for "packrafting" — and he can't set foot in a national park for two years, either.On Thursday, the National Park Service (NPS) announced Edwards' sentence after he was caught for the second time leading an illegal packrafting expedition through the Grand Canyon.Packrafting, an activity that combines hiking and personal rafting, is prohibited at Grand Canyon National Park unless visitors obtain specific permits for their trips, NPS said. Rafting the Grand Canyon is heavily regulated, and permits are used to control access and preserve the quality of the experience. Edwards did not have a permit, and was in a restricted area."Packrafting, or River Assisted Backcountry Travel (RABT), differs from traditional river rafting in that it is utilizing the river for short distances in order to access another route or trail," NPS said. "Hikers typically will have a backcountry permit and use the river to connect portions of t...

Tesla builds its first Cybertruck four years after unveiling prototype

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:55 GMT

New York (CNN) — Tesla finally built its first Cybertruck, the company tweeted Saturday, two years behind schedule.The electric car company tweeted an image of workers in hard hats surrounding the sleek Cybertruck, which it said was built at its Gigafactory near Austin, Texas.Tesla revealed the prototype for the futuristic Cybertruck in 2019, saying production would begin in late 2021. The striking prototype looked like a large metal trapezoid on wheels, its exteriors made from a stainless steel alloy. However, a demonstration of the truck’s supposedly unbreakable windows in 2019 backfired when a metal ball thrown at the windows did, in fact, break them.Tesla remained mostly silent about plans for the highly anticipated vehicle, but in 2021 announced an updated version was coming. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the company couldn’t yet debut long-promised new vehicles, such as the Cybertruck pickup, due to supply chain issues.However, in January Tes...

Looking Glass: Don’t you know that stealing is no big deal, ma’am?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:55 GMT

After a shoplifter stole items from a Dollar General in Fresno, Calif., and fled with the goods on a bicycle, an employee chased him down with her car and swerved into him on a driveway, knocking him off the bike and scattering the stuff he had stolen. They then got into a shouting match in which he is heard telling her that the situation is “not that serious,” and that other people also steal from stores. She retrieved about half of the stolen goods.THIS ONE WON’T BE TOO HARD TO SOLVE: A woman stole a 5-week-old baby monkey named Pepe out of the cage he shared with its brother, Juan, in a Homestead, Fla., pet shop. The owner said that the thief was a regular customer at the store, and had been shopping there for more than a decade.THEY REALLY MAKE YOU FEEL WELCOME: A man and a woman were arrested for trafficking and manufacturing Methamphetamine near the Florida Welcome Center in Nassau County.‘I DO,’ OK NOW I THINK WE SHOULD SEE OTHER PEOPLE: A short time after marryin...

Defiantly delicious: New seafood eatery opens on Oceanside Pier

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:55 GMT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- A pair of North County restaurateurs who are driven on sustainability are introducing a fresh-seafood-to-go concept atop the iconic Oceanside Pier. It's as close as throwing out a hook to line and sink your next meal without actually doing so with this fresh perspective to pier dining. Jessica and Davin Waite's -- the collaborative pioneers behind Oceanside's The Plot, Shoots Fish & Beer and Wrench & Rodent Seabasstropub -- are expanding their brand while staying true to their goal of minimizing waste and celebrating locally-sourced products. Meet the pitmaster balancing fire and smoke at this craft BBQ joint in Oceanside A kiosk structure adjacent to the once bustling but now retired Ruby’s Diner has been gutted and reinvented into Brine Box, described by its creators as "defiantly delicious.""Basically, we’re a fish and chip shop that uses fresh local fish with extra surprises. We like to balance fun versions of food you would expect on a pier with l...

UN says the Damascus-proposed conditions for aid delivery to northwest Syria are ‘unacceptable’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:55 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — The United Nations agency responsible for overseeing humanitarian aid has described conditions placed by the Syrian government on aid deliveries from Turkey to northwest Syria as “unacceptable.”The future delivery of aid across Syria’s northern border was thrown into question Tuesday after the U.N. Security Council was unable to agree on either of two competing proposals to extend the mandate for bringing aid from Turkey by way of the Bab al Hawa border crossing.Two days later, Syria’s ambassador to the U.N. said Damascus would give voluntary permission for the U.N. to use the crossing for six months, on condition that aid delivery would be done “in full cooperation and coordination with the government,” that the U.N. would not communicate with “terrorist organizations” and their affiliates, and that the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent would run aid operations.In a letter sent to the Security Council on Friday, a copy of ...

Tesla’s 1st electric pickup has rolled off the assembly line, company says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:55 GMT

Tesla says its first production Cybertruck electric pickup has rolled off the assembly line, nearly two years behind the original schedule.The company tweeted a photo on Saturday showing scores of workers in helmets and yellow vests surrounding the truck.“First Cybertruck built at Giga Texas!” Tesla tweeted, including a cowboy hat-wearing emoji. Owner Elon Musk retweeted the post.Musk unveiled the truck in late 2019, and Tesla had said production would start in late 2021, although the company has since cautioned that production would begin slowly and in smaller numbers than Tesla’s other vehicles. With its wedge shape and stainless-steel body — which Tesla calls the exoskeleton — the Cybertruck looks nothing like a traditional pickup. Some analysts have panned it as a niche product that won’t have broad appeal.Musk said in April that the company expected to deliver the first truck probably in the July-through-September quarter. He said that as with other new products, pr...

Ons Jabeur gets consoled by Princess Kate after a loss at Wimbledon made her 0-3 in Slam finals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:55 GMT

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Ons Jabeur used a white kleenex to wipe away tears as she walked to her post-match news conference 1 1/2 hours after falling to 0-3 in Grand Slam finals by coming up short against Marketa Vondrousova in the Wimbledon final Saturday.Jabeur called it “the most painful loss of my career,” and was grateful for the consoling embrace she received from Kate, the Princess of Wales, during the trophy presentation at Centre Court — “Hugs are always welcome,” the 28-year-old Tunisian said — and the comforting words she heard later from Kim Clijsters, the International Tennis Hall of Fame member who was defeated in her first four major finals before winning the next four.The 6-4, 6-4 setback against Vondrousova, the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon, followed Jabeur’s losses to Elena Rybakina in the final at the All England Club last July and to Iga Swiatek in the final at the U.S. Open last September.“You cannot force things. It wasn’t meant to be,” said Jabeur, t...

Israel’s Netanyahu is rushed to hospital for dehydration. Hours later, he says he feels ‘very good’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:55 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday declared that he feels “very good” after he was rushed to the hospital for what doctors said likely was dehydration.Netanyahu’s office said he was hospitalized after feeling mild dizziness. It said that he had spent the previous day in the heat at the Sea of Galilee, a popular vacation spot in northern Israel, and that after a series of tests, the initial assessment was that the veteran Israeli leader was dehydrated.Later on Saturday, a smiling Netanyahu issued a video statement from the hospital, saying that he had been out in the sun on Friday without wearing a hat and without water. “Not a good idea,” he said.“Thank God, I feel very good,” he added, thanking the medical team at Israel’s Sheba Hospital and thanking the public for messages of support.He said he had “one request” — that people drink water and act safely in the scorching summer heat.Israel is in the midst of a summer heat wave, w...

Tornado swept through west suburb, power outages across Chicagoland area

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:55 GMT

CHICAGO -- Cleanup is underway areas around the Chicagoland area after storms swept across the city and suburbs overnight. Parts of the Chicago area were under severe thunderstorm warnings Friday night. Heavy rains, strong winds and light posts looked as if they were shaking in the 1700 block of Gulf Road. Stop lights were also flashing at Wolf and Feltonville road. Trees and powerlines crashed down in Niles and a large tree landed on a house in the 8200 block of Wisner Street. Residents of the home said they were home when the fall took place just before 11 p.m.National Weather Service reported that a tornado briefly touched down in Wheaton. Submitted by WGN producer Michael Wilder in WheatonThe weather service said the tornado swept through DuPage County at a speed of 9. A warning had been issued.A tornado was also reported over the west suburb of Glen Ellyn. Police say it did not touch down and did not receive any reports of major damage. ComEd says 10,433 customers around the Ch...

A week like no other for Northwestern athletics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:55 GMT

Bradley Locker, the co-editor-in-chief of Inside NU, joined WGN News Now's "9 Good Minutes" to talk about a tumultuous week for the Northwestern University athletic program.EVANSTON, Ill. - It was a week of controversy and change the likes have never been seen in the history of the school's athletic program. After 17 years, Northwestern head football coach Pat Fitzgerald was fired in the midst of a hazing scandal that initially produced only a two-week suspension. Further allegations forced university president Michael Schill to reconsider the punishment, deciding instead to terminate the employment of the school's winningest coach.On top of that, more allegations surfaced about baseball coach Jim Foster and his treatment of players, leading to his firing on Thursday. Both have brought Northwestern's athletic program into the national spotlight for the wrong reasons. Now the question is how the university will deal with the fallout from these high-profile firings while also looking ...