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The heaviest animal ever discovered may be this ancient whale found in the Peruvian desert

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:14 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — There could be a new contender for heaviest animal to ever live. While today's blue whale has long held the title, scientists have dug up fossils from an ancient giant that could tip the scales.Researchers described the species — named Perucetus colossus, or “the colossal whale from Peru” — in the journal Nature on Wednesday. Each vertebra weighs over 220 pounds (100 kilograms) and its ribs measure nearly 5 feet (1.4 meters) long.“It’s just exciting to see such a giant animal that’s so different from anything we know," said Hans Thewissen, a paleontologist at Northeast Ohio Medical University who had no role in the research.Paleontologist Mario Urbina poses for a photo next to the vertebrae of a newly found species named Perucetus colossus, or “the colossal whale from Peru”, during a presentation in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023. The bones were first discovered more than a decade ago by Urbina from the University of San Marcos’ Natural History Museum....

Should Trump go to jail? Election could become a referendum on that question

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:14 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The 2024 election will determine whether Donald Trump returns to the White House. It could also decide if he’ll face time behind bars.For Trump, who's now facing his third criminal indictment — this time for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and block the transfer of presidential power — winning is about more than ego, redemption, score-settling or the future of the country.“This election may very well be about Donald Trump’s personal freedom,” said Ari Fleischer, a longtime Republican strategist. “It’s not an exaggeration to say, if convicted, he could be sentenced to prison unless he wins and he uses the levers of justice to reverse it or stop it or drop it."The deeply personal stakes for Trump add to what is already an election unlike any other in modern history. It's now not only a debate over the country’s challenges, but a partisan fight over whether the 77-year-old former president and GOP frontrunner should spend time in prison. Pu...

Lighthouse from 'Forrest Gump' goes dark after lightning strike

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:14 GMT

PORT CLYDE, Maine (AP) — Lightning has knocked out a lighthouse on the Maine coast that was featured in the movie “Forrest Gump.”The Marshall Point lighthouse, established in 1832, has been dark since Thursday when a lightning strike took out the light and foghorn, and damaged the associated circuitry, said Nat Lyon, director of the Marshall Point Lighthouse and Museum.The Marshall Point lighthouse sits on the water's edge with its damaged light removed after a July 27 lightning strike Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023, in the village of Port Clyde, Maine. (Nat Lyon/Marshall Point Lighthouse and Museum via AP)“It fried everything. It fried the light, the circuit breakers, the foghorn,” Lyon said Wednesday. “At this point we have a lightless lighthouse until the Coast Guard can effect the repairs."A tenant living in the keeper's house reported a "tremendous crash" and noticed the light was out after the lightning strike, Lyon said. Coast Guard Station Southwest Harbor, which is responsible for...

City of Austin studying roofs to help lower urban heat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:14 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The City of Austin is sharing data with Google on the solar reflectivity of roofs across the community to better understand which parts of town would benefit most from cool roofs, a type of roofing that reduces heat in homes and neighborhoods. Laura Patiño, the chief resilience officer at the city of Austin, described solar reflectivity as the measure of how much sunlight a roof can reflect. A higher reflectivity means your home is absorbing less heat. Once the city is done studying the roofs across multiple neighborhoods, it will then be able to use that data to find which areas of town would benefit the most from cool roofs, and could shape some future policy. The data will be a part of Austin's heat resilience playbook, a tool to reduce urban heat in the city. "From creating awareness and communicating and educating to residents what they can do to their homes, all the way to creating policies and new standards for how we build in our city that will make our city...

Letters: Evaluate first, spend later, St. Paul

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:14 GMT

Evaluate, don’t panderSt. Paul is a beautiful city. Born here and a current homeowner, I like to keep abreast of the “progress” our mayor and city council are making by reading this paper, watching and listening to newscasts, even attending council meetings downtown when able. I encourage all property owners/taxpayers to attend at some point.Don’t expect to see Mayor Carter, his attendance is rare, and his office is dark and empty these days. At the July 19 meeting in council chambers, various council members appeared uninterested, even yawning and stretching as they waded through various agenda items. Not much energy. The lack of advance preparation to discuss important topics was alarming, and the ease at which they simply “lay over” items to future meetings is of concern.I was particularly disappointed in Council President Brendmoen, who used a “circling finger” gesture in an attempt to “speed up” a local tax-paying busi...

Recipes: Portable oven makes delicious backyard pizzas a breeze

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:14 GMT

Who doesn’t love pizza?The Ooni Fyra 12, waiting to be put into action. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)Crust, sauce, cheese, toppings: It’s the perfect recipe for a dinner everyone will love.My husband and I recently bought a portable outdoor pizza oven (ours is an Ooni), and we have been churning out pizzas for friends and family with abandon.It took a few tries for us to get the dough right, and I’m still experimenting there — sourdough and fermented dough are next on my agenda — but what we’ve accomplished so far is so fun and easy that I wanted to share.There are lots of options for portable pizza ovens, but we wanted an oven that was small enough to transport to the cabin or friends’ houses, and we were also hoping for some wood-fired flavor. We landed on the Ooni Fyra 12, which is fired solely through wood pellets — the same kind we use in our Traeger smoker/grill. It weighs about 20 pounds and has a carrying case (purchased separately) so is easy to transport...

Q&A: Minnesota Fringe is on. A festival expert talks navigating the lineup, what makes a successful show

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:14 GMT

Almost as long as Minnesota Fringe has existed, Matthew Everett has been in the audience.Everett, a playwright and the literary director of the local Threshold Theater, wasn’t at the first-ever festival 30 years ago, he admitted, but, well, pretty dang close.By the time he launched his festival blog, Single White Fringe Geek, in 2002, he was already among the ranks of longtime festival-goers. The blog was originally hosted on the Fringe website and then became part of the bygone Twin Cities Daily Planet. Now it’s independent, and every year, Everett posts an avalanche of predictions and reactions to some of the most experimental theater and performance art in the state.And for 16 years, Everett didn’t tackle the festival alone. His mom, Beverlee, would fly in from the East Coast to join the “Fringe Binge.” It started unintentionally — one year, Beverlee’s visit happened to line up with Fringe — but became a tradition. After Beverlee died in 2019, the festival created the Beverlee Aw...

98.3 TRY Social Dilemma: How Do I Forgive My Sister's Cheating Husband?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:14 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Today's 98.3 TRY Social Dilemma came from Blake, and it's about family. Here's her email: Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! Hi Jaime. I have a real problem and I'm looking for good advice. My sister and I have always been very close. We're only two years apart, and we're the best of all worlds, best friends and family. Well, my sister’s husband had an affair last year and it almost destroyed their family and had a huge impact on the rest of our family. I supported my sister throughout the whole ordeal and was there for her to vent her frustrations. Ultimately, she decided to forgive him, which I understand for the sake of their young children, but I’m not so eager to forgive him. Now I’m expected to just let it go and carry on like he didn’t devastate my sister. How can I be expected to just forget his betrayal? Yet this is what my sister is asking me to do. Is it even realistic for anyone to think I coul...

Ask Amy: Family reunion presents concerns for a trans youth

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:14 GMT

Dear Amy: Every year my extended family meets for a summer reunion.Two of us are gay.Starting when he was quite young, we assumed that my nephew was also gay.No one talked about it, it was just assumed he’d figure it out and it wouldn’t be a big deal.Two years ago, when he was16, he started growing and dyeing his hair and wearing nail polish, but still referred to himself as a “he.” We assumed he was either doing the teenager thing or was about to tell us he was gay.Well, we were wrong. He’s not heterosexual (no shock) but has decided he’s trans and now goes by the gender-neutral name “Ash.”Now Ash is making baby steps into the world as a trans person.To say my family is less than supportive is an understatement.Gay they’re OK with, but I guess trans is a bridge too far (this includes Ash’s parents).Our annual get together is coming up and my plan is to wait and see how Ash refers to themself and take it from there.But I’m petrified about ho...

NextGenerationEU: Commission endorses Italy's third payment request and a targeted revision of its recovery and resilience plan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:14 GMT

The European Commission has endorsed a positive preliminary assessment of 54 milestones and targets linked to Italy's third payment request under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the key instrument at the heart of NextGenerationEU. It also endorsed the targeted revision of Italy's plan, related to the fourth payment request.Italy's third payment requestOn 30 December 2022, Italy submitted to the Commission a third payment request based on the milestones and targets set out in the Council Implementing Decision. After assessing the evidence provided by the Italian authorities, the Commission considered 39 milestones and 15 targets to be satisfactorily fulfilled.One target related to the number of new places in student accommodation was not covered by the assessment. Italy has requested to amend this target and replace it with a milestone related to the awarding of initial contracts for providing new places in student accommodation. This milestone will be added to the f...