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Quebec now taking the offensive against forest fires: natural resources minister

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:36 GMT

MONTREAL — Quebec’s natural resources minister says wilderness firefighters are now taking the offensive against the province’s forest fires instead of just reacting to the blazes. Maïté Blanchette Vézina says coordinated attacks against the fires are now possible due to reinforcements from other jurisdictions, including a team of wilderness firefighters from France.She says there are still 131 fires burning in the province, but the number of out of control fires has dropped by 28 to 44.But she says it’s not yet safe to allow people to return to any of the communities that have been evacuated.Blanchette Vézina says discussions with local officials about allowing people to return to Chibougamau, Que., where around 7,500 people were forced from their homes, and the surrounding area will take place today and Monday but the situation has not improved enough around evacuated communities in western Quebec. With no rain expected in affected areas before Tuesday, she says ...

Environmental officials kill moose after it wanders onto Connecticut airport, didn’t reach runway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:36 GMT

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. (AP) — Environmental officials killed moose in Connecticut after it wandered onto the grounds of a major airport.The moose was spotted Friday morning wandering along a road at Bradley International Airport. Officials decided to put the animal down, citing safety concerns for air travelers and drivers along a nearby highway.“When moose are roaming in high-traffic areas such as airports and public roadways it can be a public safety concern and both DEEP and airport staff are authorized to euthanize a moose if deemed necessary,” James Fowler a spokesman for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said in a statement.The animal never breached the perimeter fence that protects the airport’s runways, and no flights were affected. The animal had not been injured. It’s unclear why the animal could not be moved. DEEP did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment Sunday. The DEEP estimates there are between 100-150 moose in Connecticu...

Fire under I-95 causes section to collapse, closing interstate in both directions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:36 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A large vehicle fire under an elevated section of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia caused a huge portion of the interstate to collapse, closing the highway in both directions, authorities said.Video from the scene showed a massive slab covering an entire section of the northbound lanes collapsed onto the surface roadway in northeast Philadelphia. Officials said there were no immediate reports of injuries.Capt. Derrick Bowmer of the Philadelphia fire department said emergency crews responding shortly before 6:30 a.m. Sunday to an accident report found heavy fire from a vehicle or vehicles. Early reports indicated that the vehicle may have been a tanker truck, but officials said that hadn’t yet been confirmed. The fire was reported to be under control. Bowmer said the northbound lanes were gone and the southbound lanes were “compromised” due to heat from the fire. He also said runoff from the fire or perhaps compromised gas lines were causing explosions undergro...

Increasing international delegations as Saskatchewan sets sights on global markets

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:36 GMT

SASKATOON — Saskatchewan politicians have rapidly increased international travel since COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were loosened as Premier Scott Moe remains laser-focused on global markets.A Canadian Press analysis of publicly available data on out-of-province ministerial expenses shows a more than 33 per cent increase in spending on international trips for Moe and his ministers from 2018 to 2022.“This is how Saskatchewan creates wealth,” Moe said in April after a speech focused on the province’s international trade missions at the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities convention in Saskatoon.“It is the recipe for success for us to attract investment.”Moe has been touting how his Saskatchewan Party government is planting the province’s flag in key markets around the world while arguing the federal Liberal government’s policies are harming industry.Jason Childs, an associate professor of economics at the University of Regina, said the province is pursuing its own export priorit...

In backrooms and on social media, battle rages over law to expand railway competition

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:36 GMT

MONTREAL — A new rail shipping rule is poised to drive up inefficiency and consumer costs.Or it will drive them straight down. It depends who you ask.Set to come into effect with Ottawa’s federal budget bill, an obscure law has Canada’s two main railways fighting back over concerns about expenses and congestion, with the drama playing out in social media posts and a backroom lobbying push.At the centre of the tempest in a train yard is legislation that aims to expand what’s known as extended interswitching, a seldom-heard term that describes a critical practice in the rail industry.Interswitching refers to the transfer of cargo between two rail companies at a point where their tracks meet. Extended interswitching is when Company A must transport that cargo along its own tracks to a point where it meets Company B’s rails, and it’s currently required on request for distances of up to 30 kilometres.The practice seeks to spur competition, as someone shipping from a gra...

Fungi may offer ‘jaw-dropping’ solution to climate change

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:36 GMT

(The Hill) - As planet-warming carbon emissions rise, a major solution to climate change is growing beneath our feet.A study published in Current Biology on Monday found that fungi gobble up more than a third of the world’s annual fossil fuel emissions.As such, fungi “represent a blind spot in carbon modeling, conservation, and restoration,” coauthor Kate Field, a professor of biology at the University of Sheffield, said in a statement.“The numbers we’ve uncovered are jaw-dropping,” Field added. Field’s team found that fungi pulled down 36 percent of global fossil fuel emissions — enough to cancel out the yearly carbon pollution from China, the world’s largest carbon emitter. China beats out its nearest polluting competitor, the United States, by a factor of two.Fungi are the broad biological kingdom that produces mushrooms — the fruiting bodies of far larger organisms that sprawl beneath the surface.  Massive sargassum seaweed bloom takes surprising turn ...

UFC champ Conor McGregor knocks out mascot in bizarre bit during NBA Finals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:36 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Former UFC champion Conor McGregor knocked out the Miami Heat mascot in a midgame bit that went wrong.Burnie — more specifically, the man who occupies Burnie's costume — briefly sought medical attention Friday night after taking two punches from McGregor during a third-quarter stoppage of Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Heat and the Denver Nuggets.The Heat said Saturday that the employee, who was not identified, received pain medication and was resting at home.McGregor was there as a promotional gimmick for a pain-relief spray — and was booed by many in the Miami crowd even before the bit started. The flame mascot was wearing oversized boxing gloves and a robe akin to what a fighter would wear entering the ring for a bout. McGregor hit Burnie with a left hook, knocking him down, then punched the mascot again after he hit the floor.McGregor then tried to “spray” the mascot with the pain-relief product, while several members of the Heat's in-game promotiona...

Weekend Break: Rhapsody Theater

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:36 GMT

Reading Marcella's mind? Check out today's Weekend Break with Marcella Raymond at Rhapsody Theater.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

Charging blunts benefits of electric ride-hailing, study finds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:36 GMT

(Green Car Reports) -- Uber and Lyft have pledged to electrify their ride-hailing fleets by 2030, but a new University of Michigan study argues that it won’t make much of a difference.Replacing all current ride-hailing vehicles with EVs would eliminate tailpipe emissions, but the overall benefit to society would still be slight—just 3% per trip on average—according to the study, which was published June 1 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.That’s due to other social costs associated with ride-hailing beyond emissions, including “increased traffic congestion, collision risk and noise due to Uber and Lyft drivers traveling to and from fast-charging stations,” a University of Michigan press release announcing the study results said.Tesla chargingThose results are based on modeling of more than a million Uber and Lyft trips using data collected from the Chicago area from 2019 to 2022. The models included trips taken on weekdays, weekends, and during differen...

Texas boaters, fishers: Is this wicked plant coming home with you?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:36 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — As summer heats up, more and more Texans are taking to the water for boating, fishing and swimming. But could you unintentionally be bringing a pesky — and hazardous — stowaway back home from the water?Hydrilla is among several noxious and invasive plants listed in the Texas Agriculture Code, which makes it illegal to sell, buy or plant it in the state. But you may be wondering just what the heck hydrilla is and why it's such a threat. Texas watermelons less sweet this year — here's why Hydrilla — known as Hydrilla verticillata — is an invasive aquatic plant that grows in freshwater, like lakes and streams. But even though it thrives in freshwater, the versatile plant can still grow in murky and shallow areas, according to Texas State University's Texas Invasive Species Institute. Hydrilla aquatic plant close-up (Getty Images)In addition to ecosystem dangers, hydrilla can also pose a hazard to swimmers. Back in 2018, an Austin-area man told KXAN News that getting caugh...