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Making reusables rock’n’roll: Festivals struggle with switch to sustainable

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:39 GMT

Reusable cups and utensils don’t scream rock’n’roll — at least, not yet. If Brussels gets its way, they’re set to become a staple at every music festival across the bloc.Festivals are capable of creating mountains of waste, as thousands of ravers consume huge amounts of paper-wrapped takeaway food and down countless beers out of plastic cups over multiple days. A 2020 report estimated that camping music festivals in the U.K. were responsible for more than 23,500 tons of waste each year, 68 percent of which goes straight to landfill.But festivals are going to have to rethink their food and drink offerings, as the EU zones in on new legislation to slash packaging waste generated by the hospitality sector. Its proposal, set out last year, pushes takeaway food and drink sellers — including those dotted around every festival — to ditch single-use packaging in favor of reusable, washable cups and food containers.The push is part of a larger effort to slash packagin...

Tornado uproots trees, downs wires as it roars through Johnston, RI

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:39 GMT

Crews are cleaning up after a tornado raced through Johnston, Rhode Island on Friday morning and its an effort that they expect will take some time to clear.Randy Williams was driving on Interstate 295 near the Johnston-Smithfield line when a funnel appeared on the road. “It hit the backside of my car, which changed the path I was going and moved me over a lane,” he recalled. Another car in Johnston was actually picked up and moved as the twister spun through the area.David Danella, an off-duty firefighter who witnessed it, said, “Her car was in the middle of its cyclone winds. I guess that’s what you call them. It picked her car up and spun her around like that and then just dropped it back down.” SKY7-HD flew over Highland Memorial Park Cemetery in Johnston, where a tornado touched down just before 9 a.m. Some 20 acres of the area was destroyed.Merill Brouchau took shelter in her basement, and when she came out she found her patio swing in her swimmin...

Red Sox jump Jhony Brito as Yankees sloppy play leads to 6th straight loss

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:39 GMT

Happy to be home and in need of a win over a division rival and fellow wild card chaser, the Yankees lost their sixth consecutive game on Friday.It didn’t take long for onlookers to realize that the pinstripers were on their way to another defeat, as the Red Sox jumped on Jhony Brito and scored four runs before the Yankees ever recorded an out. The first came off the bat of Justin Turner, who picked up an RBI single before Masataka Yoshida lined a three-run homer to right field.The second inning then saw Gleyber Torres make an error on a routine grounder. That mistake preceded RBI singles from Rafael Devers, Turner and Yoshida. Just like that, Boston had far more runs than it needed in a 8-3 win.Brito only lasted 2.1 innings. The right-handed rookie allowed nine hits and six earned runs over 46 pitches. He struck out one and walked none.While Brito looked awful, Ian Hamilton, the first man out of the Yankees’ bullpen, had a strong night on the mound. The reliever logged ...

Led by Masataka Yoshida, Red Sox continue season-long rout of Yankees

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:39 GMT

Next year, the Red Sox will, inconceivably, celebrate the 20th anniversary of the historic 2004 season, including their historic toppling of the then-formidable New York Yankees.The game’s greatest rivalry hasn’t been the same since that unparalleled ALCS, when Boston became the first team in Major League Baseball history to come back from a 0-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven postseason series. Upsetting the Yankees in such historic fashion seems to have permanently shifted the power balance between the warring clubs. Over the last two decades, the Red Sox have demolished their foes in every October meeting.To paraphrase Steve Martin’s iconic Michael Scott, how the turntables have turned.Friday night was the final nail in the coffin, and the Red Sox hammered it in hard in their 8-3 victory.Entering the series opener, August was plodding along too quietly for the Boston bats; they’d topped out at four runs in nine of 15 games this month.Before the Yankees coul...

How San Diegans can prepare for Hilary

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:39 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- With Hurricane Hilary heading north towards Southern California, many San Diegans may be wondering how to prepare.When it comes to safeguarding your home, residents are encouraged to "make sure that water has a place to go," Mayor Todd Gloria said in a news conference Friday. That means clearing the rain gutters on your residence and picking up leaves and trash that can flow into storm water drains.Residents are also encouraged to use sandbags to keep water and mud away from their homes. Sandbags can be picked up for free at any of these locations. What should go into an emergency kit? San Diegans should also prepare to shelter-in-place when the storm hits, Gloria said. That means making sure phones are fully charged and flashlight batteries are working in case the power goes out. ReadySanDiego also encourages residents have a battery-operated radio to stay informed.Residents are advised to secure outdoor equipment that high winds could blow away, like patio umbrellas...

Brazil’s Bolsonaro accused by ex-aide’s lawyer of ordering sale of jewelry given as official gift

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:39 GMT

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Then Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro ordered an aide to sell undeclared luxury jewelry received as a gift and funnel the money to him, a lawyer for the aide charged Friday.Cezar Bittencourt, who represents Bolsonaro’s former right-hand man, Lt. Col. Mauro Cid, said his client had recounted receiving those orders from Bolsonaro shortly before the president left office at the end of last year.The claim was initially reported in an interview published Friday by the Brazilian magazine Veja, and Bittencourt confirmed his comments in a phone call with The Associated Press. Bittencourt said that in December 2022, Cid asked about a Rolex watch the president was given by government of Saudi Arabia in 2019. Bolsonaro replied that Cid should “deal with it,” which eventually led to the aide selling two watches in the U.S. and handing the money to Bolsonaro, the attorney said.A week ago, Brazil’s Federal Police charged that Bolsonaro received cash from the nearly...

Guatemala court permanently blocks suspension of Seed Movement party ahead of Sunday’s election

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:39 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Two days before Guatemala’s presidential runoff election, the Supreme Court of Justice granted a permanent injunction Friday to the party of progressive candidate Bernardo Arévalo, blocking a lower court’s order suspending the party’s legal status.Court spokesman Rudy Esquivel said it ordered the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to disregard the lower court’s ruling, which came last month at the request of prosecutors who said they were investigating how the party had gathered the necessary signatures to register years earlier. The high court had earlier blocked the suspension with a temporary injunction at the request of Arévalo’s Seed Movement.The new ruling can be appealed to Guatemala’s highest tribunal, the Constitutional Court.Guatemalan electoral law forbids the suspension of a party during the electoral process. The original suspension was granted after the first round of voting June 25 in which Arévalo won a spot in Sunday’s runoff against former first...

US judge sides with Nevada regulators in fight over Utah bus firm’s intrastate v. interstate routes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:39 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A U.S. judge has denied a Utah bus company’s bid to block Nevada regulation of routes that run primarily between Reno and Las Vegas but briefly cross into California, siding with regulators who say their ability to ensure the safety of buses in Nevada is in the public’s best interest. Salt Lake Express filed a lawsuit in May against the Nevada Transportation Authority and sought a temporary restraining order prohibiting state oversight of what the company insists is interstate travel not subject to state regulation.The lawsuit said Nevada “declared war” on its interstate travel services earlier this year, seizing one of its mini-buses and leaving 20 passengers stranded with no ride.Nevada transportation officials argued Salt Lake Express was engaged in an illegal scheme to evade state regulation by making quick trips to a stop with no customers at a California campground just west of Reno during treks to Las Vegas.U.S. District Judge Robert C. Jones den...

'Dine with Maui': Austinites can eat at this list of restaurants for a good cause

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:39 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austinites can eat at multiple restaurants and know a portion of proceeds from sales will go to the Maui Food Bank to help aid victims after the deadly wildfire in Maui, according to the Austin Food Adventures website.'Dine With Maui' is what the website is calling the initiative, which will happen Saturday."Our hearts are heavy for the citizens of Maui. We are working together with our favorite restaurants in Austin, TX to organize Dine with Maui. On Saturday, August 19th, a percentage of sales from each of the businesses listed below will go directly to the @mauifoodbank," the website said. Residents who fled deadly Maui fire ask for time to grieve and slower rebuild View the Dine with Maui participants below:Shoyu Sugar (North Austin, Hawaiian Food 11- 8pm, Food Truck) Merry Monarch Creamery (North Austin, Ice cream, 12 -2 pm, 5:30- 9 PM, Food Truck) Kome (North Austin, Sushi and Japanese Comfort eats, 11-10 pm, Restaurant)JewBoy Burger...

Driver who caused fatal crash while on FaceTime call sentenced to 6-month jail term

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:39 GMT

A driver who admitted to being on a FaceTime call when he slammed into the back of a car on the Crosstown Highway in Richfield — killing a 23-year-old Mendota Heights woman — has been sentenced to six months in jail and three years of probation.Darrin Dorral Gregory Jr., 31, of Minneapolis, was sentenced in Hennepin County District Court on Thursday in connection with the April 15, 2021, crash that killed Alice Jane Tibbetts, a St. Paul Academy and St. Olaf College graduate who was ingrained in the local theater scene as an actress and violinist.Darrin Dorral Gregory Jr.(Courtesy of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office)Gregory pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in June after reaching an agreement with prosecutors. Judge Juan Hoyos followed the agreement, staying a four-year prison term and ordering him to participate in 23 safe driving panels or programs and talk to youth about the dangers of distracted driving.An 11-year Army veteran, Gregory was a cade...