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Mosquitoes, long the enemy, are now bred to help prevent the spread of dengue fever

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — For decades, preventing dengue fever in Honduras has meant teaching people to fear mosquitoes and avoid their bites. Now, Hondurans are being educated about a potentially more effective way to control the disease — and it goes against everything they’ve learned.Which explains why a dozen people cheered last month as Tegucigalpa resident Hector Enriquez held a glass jar filled with mosquitoes above his head, and then freed the buzzing insects into the air. Enriquez, a 52-year-old mason, had volunteered to help publicize a plan to suppress dengue by releasing millions of special mosquitoes in the Honduran capital.The mosquitoes Enriquez unleashed in his El Manchen neighborhood — an area rife with dengue — were bred by scientists to carry bacteria called Wolbachia that interrupt transmission of the disease. When these mosquitoes reproduce, they pass the bacteria to their offspring, reducing future outbreaks.This emerging strategy for battling dengue was pio...

Rockies’ Kris Bryant hits winning home run against Cubs in second game back from injury

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

On his first try, Kris Bryant made loud, clean contact and got punished with a waste of 405 feet. On his second try, he accidentally halved his swing and was rewarded.As backward as those results were when Bryant came to bat twice with the bases loaded Tuesday night, he stuck to the first approach later on. In his second game back from the injured list, Bryant delivered a go-ahead solo home run in the sixth inning against his former team, and the Rockies held on for a 6-4 win over the Cubs at Coors Field.Colorado (52-92) snapped a five-game losing streak thanks to Bryant’s three RBIs, multiple don’t-you-dare outfield arms and Justin Lawrence’s save. Chicago stranded the tying runs on base in a tense ninth that ended with a Lawrence strikeout.“They’re obviously in the playoff hunt,” Bryant said. “Just to do it against some old friends and kind of make it a little bit harder for them, it feels great. They look great over there. They’ve got a great team. B...

Family tied up, held at gunpoint by masked robbers in Orange County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

An Orange County family was held at gunpoint earlier this week when four armed robbers broke into their home, used a stun gun on one of the victims, then tied them up and demanded to know where they kept their valuables, authorities announced Tuesday.  Officers with the Westminster Police Department responded to the 8900 block of Pebble Beach Circle on Sept. 11 around 10:40 p.m. after a woman called 911 and whispered that she needed help.  When police arrived at the residence, they spotted four male suspects armed with handguns running from the home.  One of the suspects, now identified as 29-year-old Banning resident Danny Sommay, was taken into custody outside the residence after throwing his firearm over a brick wall. The gun was recovered and found to be a loaded 9mm handgun that had been reported stolen, a Westminster PD news release stated. Inside the home, police found five victims, identified only as an adult male and female, an elderly woman, a 14-year-old bo...

Pitcher Julio Urías scrubbed from Dodger Stadium

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

The Los Angeles Dodgers appear to be moving on from embattled pitcher Julio Urías.When the team returned from a six-game road trip on Monday, Urías, who is currently on administrative leave, had been largely scrubbed from Dodger Stadium, the Los Angeles Times reports.The veteran pitcher's clubhouse locker was removed and two large murals featuring Urías at the entrances to left and right field were covered or painted over.A large sheet covers a mural showing Julio Urias and other Dodgers players at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 12, 2023. (KTLA)Also, no Urías apparel could be found at team stores and kiosks, L.A. Times reports.“It’s sad on every level,” manager Dave Roberts told reporters before Monday night’s game against the San Diego Padres, adding that the decision to remove Urias’ locker was “an organizational thing.”Urías, 27, was arrested on domestic violence charges by officers with the Exposition Park Department of Public Safety on Sept. 3. Exposition Park is the site of BMO Stadi...

Sunol school board meeting devolves into chaos, audience thrown out as Pride flag banned

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

A meeting in the tiny district of Sunol, a small unincorporated community south of Pleasanton, descended into chaos Tuesday night as the entire audience was thrown out shortly before the three-person school board passed a resolution that will prevent the district from flying the Pride flag.The board meeting, which packed over 100 people from both sides of the issue into a small cafeteria covered in student posters and walk-a-thon posters, frequently turned into a volley of shouts and insults. Hecklers shouted abuse at board members and each other. Board members engaged in intense, semi-civil debates. During the course of the evening, the board president, Ryan Jurgensen, demanded on multiple occasions that sheriff’s deputies physically remove “disruptive” attendees from the meeting.In the end, prior to a final vote, all attendees were thrown out of the room as the cafeteria devolved into complete anarchy. They were not allowed to return.Tensions were high the entire evening. Bo...

Pittsburg murder investigation nets nine arrests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY – An investigation into a fatal shooting earlier this summer in Pittsburg resulted in the arrests of nine people Monday, but at least one other suspect remains at large, police said.The Pittsburg Police Department worked with other local and federal law enforcement agencies to serve 10 warrants shortly after 5 a.m. in the cities of Antioch, Oakley, Pittsburg and Pleasant Hill, the police department said in a news release.Nine people were arrested on suspicion of crimes including murder, as well as for firearms violations and drug-related offenses, police said, adding that many of them are believed to be directly involved in or associates of an East Contra Costa County gang.The warrants stemmed from an investigation into a fatal shooting on July 14 in the 2100 block of Crestview Drive. Police said several suspects shot into a moving vehicle, killing Trevon Richardson, 24, of Antioch, and seriously injuring another man.At least one other suspect is still being soug...

SF Giants commit season’s 100th error, blow chance to gain ground in NL wild card race

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Giants missed a terrific opportunity to gain some ground in the race for the National League’s wild-card race on Tuesday night.Hoping to win consecutive series for the first time in nearly two months, the Giants instead managed just a Blake Sabol solo home run in a 3-1 loss to the Cleveland Guardians before an announced crowd of 23,541 at Oracle Park.The Giants allowed one run in the first inning and two more in the sixth — after their 100th error of the season — as they had a four-game winning streak snapped by the Guardians, who are merely playing out the string in Terry Francona’s final season as a big-league manager.The Giants went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base.With the loss, the Giants remained 1½ games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the nip-and-tuck race for the NL’s final wild-card spot. San Francisco is tied with the Miami Marlins with 74-71 records, and both of those teams are a half-game b...

Oakland Police Commission slams Mayor Thao over police chief hiring process

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

(KRON) -- The Oakland Police Commission was critical of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao in a statement posted to social media and sent out to media members Tuesday. The statement comes after the Oakland chapter of the NAACP credited surging crime to Thao's decision to fire Oakland Police Department Chief LeRonne Armstrong in February. Thao dismissed that notion in an interview with KRON4. A new chief has yet to be hired, and Thao reiterated at a community meeting on Saturday that she cannot do so until the police commission presents her with three finalists. In its statement, the commission said it was "deeply disappointed" by her comments. "We are also deeply disappointed in the mayor's purposeful deflection of the NAACP and community's concerns by casting blame on the Commission for the lack of a police chief, which was brought about by the mayor herself," read the statement, which was authored by Dr. Tyfahra Milele, the chair of the commission. San Francisco tech company laying off 1...

Russian President Putin and North Korea’s Kim shake hands as they meet at the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia’s far east

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russian President Putin and North Korea’s Kim shake hands as they meet at the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia’s far east.Source

Kim Jong Un arrives at cosmodrome in Russia’s far east for meeting with Putin

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti reported early Wednesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin have arrived at the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia’s far eastern Amur region for a meeting that underscores how the two leaders’ interests are aligning in the face of their separate, intensifying confrontations with the United States. Kim arrived at the train station of the cosmodrome, the report said, without offering any other details. The agency reported Putin’s arrival minutes earlier. Hours earlier, North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward the sea.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward the sea Wednesday, as leader Kim Jong Un rolled through Russia on an armored train toward a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. That meeting underscores how the two leaders’ interests are aligning in the face of their sep...