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Turbocharged Otis caught forecasters and Mexico off-guard. Scientists aren’t sure why

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:06:13 GMT

Hurricane Otis turned from mild to monster in record time, and scientists are struggling to figure out how — and why they didn’t see it coming.Usually reliable computer models and the forecasters who use them didn’t predict Otis’ explosive intensification, creating a nightmare scenario of an unexpectedly strong storm striking at night. Acapulco was told to expect a tropical storm just below hurricane strength, but 24 hours later, Otis blasted onto the Mexican coast with 165 mph (266 kph) winds, the strongest landfall of any East Pacific hurricane.In just 12 hours, Otis’ strength more than doubled from 70 mph (113 kph) winds to 160 mph (257 kph), also a record, as it neared the coast. And it got even stronger before it struck. Storms typically gain or lose a few miles per hour in 12 hours, though some outliers gain 30 to 50 mph (48 to 80 kph) in a day.What happened with Otis was just plain nuts, said University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy. But it coincides with ...

Kansas court system down nearly 2 weeks in ‘security incident’ that has hallmarks of ransomware

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:06:13 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials are calling a massive computer outage that’s kept most of the state’s courts offline for two weeks a “security incident” and, while they had not provided an explanation as of Wednesday, experts say it has all the hallmarks of a ransomware attack.The disruption has left attorneys unable to search online records and forced them to file motions the old fashioned way — on paper. Courts are limping along, although the growing piles of paper are a mess that will have to be sorted and scanned eventually. “It’s really just slowed the whole system down,” said Chris Joseph, a Lawrence-based criminal defense attorney. Since 2019, ransomware groups have targeted 18 state, city or municipal court systems, said analyst Allan Liska of the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. That includes one in Dallas, where some jury trials had to be canceled this year. But state-focused attacks have been much less frequent, and have not yet rivaled what is happeni...

No criminal charges in sandwich shop car crash that killed 14-year-old in Hinsdale

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:06:13 GMT

HINSDALE, Ill. — No criminal charges will be filed against the teenage driver who crashed into a Hinsdale sub shop this summer, killing a 14-year-old boy. Sean Richards was critically injured and later died after being struck by a jeep driving out of Fuller’s Car Wash on July 21. The car crashed into Fontano’s Subs near the intersection of Chicago Avenue and Lincoln Street in Hinsdale. Three other people were hurt. MORE WESTERN SUBURBS NEWS: Swastika found carved into playground equipment at Downers Grove schoolA joint investigation with the Hinsdale Police Department found the 16-year-old was working at Fuller's Car Wash across the street. The investigation found that the teenager was pulling out of the car wash tunnel when he accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake. Calling the death of Sean Richards a "horrible accident," a joint statement from DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and Hinsdale Chief of Police Brian King concl...

Magnet schools families struggle as bus shortage continues

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:06:13 GMT

CHICAGO — For thousands of Chicago Public School families, it’s been a tumultuous school year. The loss of bus service for close to 5,500 magnet and selective enrollment students due to a shortage of drivers has created a hardships for many. The key component that makes magnet and other selective-enrollment schools work is busing.  For decades now, magnet school children have had to crisscross Chicago and travel from far away neighborhoods in order to foster diverse student bodies and equitable access. But the drastic curtailment of bus service this year plunged a significant number working-class CPS families into crisis.   Rosana Tanon’s 9-year-old twins have attended Inter-American Magnet School near Wrigley Field since kindergarten.“There‘s no way I can get the kids to school because they don’t open the door until 15 minutes before 9 a.m.,” she said. CPS seeking bus drivers as shortage leaves students finding other ways to get to, from school The family lives in Hermosa Park an...

Illinois House approves staff unionization, GOP questions whether it's necessary

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:06:13 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The speaker of the Illinois House on Wednesday won approval for allowing legislative staff to organize for collective bargaining, overcoming Republican objections about whether it's necessary.Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch's legislation, endorsed 74-35 on a largely partisan vote, would allow legislative coordinators, subject-matter specialists, mailroom employees, custodians, doorkeepers providing security and others to unionize.After Oregon allowed legislative aides to unionize in 2021, the movement has gained momentum. California endorsed collective bargaining last month but efforts in other states, such as Washington, have so far stalled. Maine allowed some staff unionization in the early 2000s. USPS touts crackdown on postal crime, carrier robberies, with hundreds of arrests Welch urged lawmakers to discard “finite” thinking when they're engaged in “an infinite game," responsible for improving the machinations of government for the future.“Everyone...

Poison specialist charged with fatally poisoning his wife

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:06:13 GMT

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Authorities in Minnesota have arrested and charged a Wichita woman's husband in her murder. On August 16, Betty Bowman, 32, a Mayo Clinic pharmacist, was admitted to a hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, with severe gastrointestinal distress and dehydration — similar to food poisoning. She died on August 20. Connor Bowman (Courtesy: Olmsted County Sheriff's Office)Betty's husband, Dr. Connor F. Bowman, a former Mayo Clinic resident, was arrested on Friday, Oct. 20, and he has been charged with second-degree murder — with intent-not premeditated, in her death. His bond has been set at $5 million with no conditions. According to a criminal complaint and statement of probable cause filed on Monday, Oct. 23, in Olmsted County, Minnesota, the medical examiner alerted the Rochester Police Department to Betty's suspicious death on August 21, and her cremation was halted. That's when authorities began investigating Betty's husband.The complaint says Connor Bowman was a ...

Deer crashes through window at Pennsylvania middle school

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:06:13 GMT

BERWICK, Penn. (WBRE/WYOU) — A deer crashed through the window of a middle school classroom in Pennsylvania and ran down a hallway, causing a commotion Wednesday morning. Berwick Middle School officials said a teacher was inside the room when the deer bolted through the window around 9:30 a.m. The animal then went into another classroom, startling a small group of students and a teacher. The group immediately exited the room and locked the deer inside, according to officials. No one was injured. "We were fortunate of the timing that it had happened," said Greg Daily, the supervisor of the Berwick Area School District Police Department. "If it would’ve been six minutes or so earlier, there would’ve been students and staff in the hallway." WATCH: Deer run through field during high school soccer game Berwick and Salem Township police officers responded to the school and helped put a blanket over the deer's head. They then brought the deer outside before the Pennsylvania Game Commissi...

Can a Texas judge refuse to marry gay couples? Texas Supreme Court to rule

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:06:13 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- The Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments relating to disciplinary action taken against a Waco-area judge who refuses to perform same-sex marriages.The case tests the authority of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct while pitting LGBTQ+ rights against the discretion granted to elected officials on religious grounds.In 2019, the Commission issued a warning to McClennan County Justice of the Peace Dianne Hensley for her refusal to perform marriages for same-sex couples, claiming her conduct shows an inability to uphold her oath of impartiality.The state's attorney described instances in which Hensley's clerks would greet gay couples seeking to be married, turn them away, and provide them a list of other judges who would serve them."She has chosen to discriminate between some folks in the state of Texas in favor of other people. And it flies in the face of impartiality," attorney Douglas Lang argued to the court Monday morning.Hensley asserts state r...

Apartment complex in Hyde Park named after former city mayor

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:06:13 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- An apartment complex in Hyde Park has a new name that's familiar to many Austinites.The Workforce Affordable Complex will now be called The Adler -- named after former City of Austin Mayor Steve Adler, according to a news release from Affordable Central Texas.Back in 2016, Adler worked to address affordable housing availability for middle-income workers, the release said. This then led to the start of the Austin Housing Conservancy, which has preserved workforce affordable housing in the city.The Workforce Affordable Complex will now be called The Adler, which is named after former City of Austin Mayor Steve Adler | Todd Bailey/KXAN NewsThe Workforce Affordable Complex will now be called The Adler, which is named after former City of Austin Mayor Steve Adler | Todd Bailey/KXAN NewsThe Workforce Affordable Complex will now be called The Adler, which is named after former City of Austin Mayor Steve Adler | Todd Bailey/KXAN NewsThe Workforce Affordable Complex will now...

Other voices: Why are governments still subsidizing fossil fuels?

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:06:13 GMT

The fight against climate change commands the support of governments across much of the world. Targets for carbon abatement have gotten more ambitious and policies to address the challenge are proliferating. Yet one measure of progress shows how badly these efforts still fall short. Last year, global fossil-fuel subsidies expanded to a new record — $7 trillion, roughly 7% of global gross domestic output.This remarkable number comes from a recently updated assessment by the International Monetary Fund, drawing on detailed disaggregated data for 170 countries. Rightly, it uses a comprehensive definition of subsidy, combining outright support (spending that offsets production costs) and implicit support (underpricing for environmental harms and forgone tax revenue).Explicit subsidies have more than doubled since the previous assessment for 2020, to more than $1 trillion, thanks partly to efforts to soften the blow of higher energy prices after Russia attacked Ukraine. Implicit su...