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Walters: California’s new Delta plan faces the same political conflicts over water

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:48 GMT

California’s water warriors have a new arena for their perpetual conflict over the allocation of the state’s ever-evolving supply – a nearly 6,000-word proposal from the state Water Resources Control Board.The draft essentially calls for sharp reductions in diversions from the Sacramento River and its tributaries to allow more water to flow through the environmentally troubled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.“It is a consequential effort,” Eric Oppenheimer, chief deputy director of the board, said during a media briefing on what is technically an update of the agency’s management plan for the Delta and San Francisco Bay. “It reflects years of scientific analysis that we’ve undertaken and years of public input.”The board had previously issued a similar policy paper for the San Joaquin River and its tributaries. The two rivers merge to form the Delta, a vast maze of islands and channels that is the West Coast’s largest estuary.In addition to upstream diversions to irrigate fields and orc...

AP Top 25 Takeaways: Turns out, Oklahoma’s back; Tide rising in West; coaching malpractice at Miami

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:48 GMT

Actually, it’s Oklahoma that’s back.Of course, the Sooners haven’t been gone for long.The final Red River Rivalry in the Big 12 before it moves to the Southeastern Conference felt like a chance for No. 3 Texas to lay claim to being the best team in the country.Instead, at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday, second-year Oklahoma coach Brent Venables got his first signature win and the 12th-ranked Sooners stamped themselves as College Football Playoff contenders.On a day when No. 1 Georgia re-asserted itself; No. 11 Alabama overcame itself; No. 10 Notre Dame ran out of gas at No. 25 Louisville; seven teams lost for the first time, including No. 17 Miami in the most unfathomable way — but somehow not No. 9 USC, which needed a 17-point comeback, three overtimes and more Caleb Williams magic to beat Arizona — the Sooners made the loudest statement.The Longhorns looked pretty good, too. No need to panic, Texas fans. The way the rest of the Big 12 is playing out, the Longhorns a...

Israel battles Hamas for a second day after mass incusion and trades fire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:48 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli soldiers battled Hamas fighters in the streets of southern Israel on Sunday and launched retaliation strikes that leveled buildings in Gaza, while in northern Israel a brief exchange of strikes with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group raised fears of a broader conflict.Fighting still raged more than 24 hours after an unprecedented surprise attack from Gaza, in which Hamas fighters, backed by a volley of thousands of rockets, broke through Israel’s security barrier and rampaged through nearby communities. The fighters took captives back into the coastal Gaza enclave, including women, children and the elderly, who they will likely try to trade for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country was at war and would exact a heavy price from its enemies. Hamas leaders said they were prepared for further escalation.Israeli media, citing rescue service officials, said at least 300 peopl...

Earthquakes kill over 2,000 in Afghanistan. People are freeing the dead and injured with their hands

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:48 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Powerful earthquakes killed at least 2,000 people in western Afghanistan, a Taliban government spokesman said Sunday. It’s one of the deadliest earthquakes to strike the country in two decades. The figures couldn’t be independently verified.The magnitude-6.3 earthquake was followed by strong aftershocks on Saturday, a spokesperson for the country’s national disaster management authority said.The United States Geological Survey said the quake’s epicenter was about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Herat city. It was followed by three very strong aftershocks, measuring magnitude 6.3, 5.9 and 5.5, as well as lesser shocks.On Sunday, people attempted to dig out the dead and injured with their hands in Herat, clambering over rocks and debris. Survivors and victims were trapped under buildings that had crumbled to the ground, their faces grey with dust. One video, shared online, shows people freeing a baby girl from a collapsed building after being buried up to ...

American mountaineer, local guide dead after avalanches hit Tibetan mountain. Two others are missing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:48 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — American mountaineer Anna Gutu and a Nepalese guide Mingmar Sherpa were confirmed Sunday dead after avalanches struck the slopes of a Tibetan mountain, while two others remained missing, according to Chinese media reports.The avalanches struck Tibet’s Mount Shishapangma on Saturday afternoon at 7,600 (24,934 ft) and 8,000 meters (26,246 ft) in altitude, according to state-owned Xinhua News Agency.Two others, American climber Gina Marie Rzucidlo and a Nepalese mountain guide Tenjen Sherpa went missing, the news agency said.The avalanches also seriously injured Nepalese mountain guide Karma Geljen Sherpa, who was escorted down the mountain by rescuers and is currently in stable condition.A total of 52 climbers from various countries including the U.S., Britain, Japan, and Italy were attempting to summit the mountain when the avalanches hit, Xinhua said.Climbing activities have since been suspended due to snow conditions.Shishapangma is the 14th-highest mountain in the w...

MuchMusic’s expansive physical videotape archive is finally going digital

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:48 GMT

TORONTO — MOVES SUNDAY AT 4 A.M.Decades of MuchMusic programming is being rescued from the sands of time.The music channel’s owner Bell Media says it’s on the final stretch of a years-long project to go through tens of thousands of videotapes and transfer pieces of pop culture history into a new digital archive.Bell’s content development vice-president Justin Stockman says interviews with international and Canadian musicians as well as Much’s special event broadcasts will be preserved in the process.Stockman says the project has been in the works for “several years” as the Canadian broadcaster considered ways to replace its physical card-cataloguing system with a computerized alternative.He says making the process more challenging are the various videotape formats used by MuchMusic over the years.Stockman says the archive will be useful for licensing footage to documentaries though he notes that some digitized footage is already available on Much’s YouTube channel.This report ...

Canadian universities bet on international students, but global shifts present risks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:48 GMT

VANCOUVER — When the University of British Columbia announced the launch of Vantage College in 2013, the school said it envisioned the program for fee-paying international students would have enrolment of 1,000 by August 2016.The program would target first-year students who otherwise failed to meet UBC’s English requirements, providing them with extra language lessons in addition to their degree courses. It would house the students — whose fees are now about $60,000 per year — in a $127 million facility designed by world-renowned architecture firm Perkins&Will, some of its dorm rooms featuring sweeping ocean views.However, Vantage’s enrolment is currently 172 students, having declined every year since reaching 498 in 2018-2019. The struggles of Vantage College reflect the unpredictable nature of the lucrative international education sector, as Canadian universities find themselves beholden to geopolitical and economic shifts.There have been massive changes in the sec...

‘Most challenging Thanksgiving:’ Long weekend marked with soaring food bank use

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:48 GMT

VANCOUVER — Food banks across Canada continue to face soaring need this Thanksgiving, with one executive warning that things could quickly get worse.Amid inflation, increasing food and housing costs, and precarious employment situations, the country’s food banks have watched the need for their goods balloon as the organizations enter what, for many, is a critical time of year for fundraising. Neil Hetherington, CEO of Toronto’s Daily Bread, which supports more than 200 food programs in the area, said this long weekend has been the “most challenging Thanksgiving we have ever had.”Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization saw about 65,000 client visits per month, he said. That number last month was 275,000.“You’ve got food prices, you’ve got a precarious work environment, and most of all lack of decent, affordable housing,” he said.“And you put all of those things together and suddenly you can understand why people are turni...

Daily horoscope for October 8, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:48 GMT

Moon Alert: There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions today. The Moon is in Leo.Happy Birthday for Friday, Oct. 8, 2023:You’re imaginative, creative and sometime eccentric. You are also intelligent, but easily distracted. This is a year of learning and teaching for you. Take time to renew your spiritual or religious beliefs. Explore philosophies that give you a better understanding of the meaning of your life.ARIES(March 21-April 19)★★★★★This is a playful, fun-loving day! It’s the perfect time for a vacation, social outings, sports events, fun times with children, plus enjoying the theater, the entertainment world and the hospitality industry. Basically, you want the freedom to do exactly what you want to do today. Tonight: Socialize! This Week: It’s a tough start. Focus on relationships.TAURUS(April 20-May 20)★★★★You will enjoy entertaining at home today, especially in groups. This might be with people who are different from you. Or it could be ...

Shane van Ginsbergen wins Bathurst 1000 for 3rd time ahead of NASCAR departure

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:48 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — NASCAR-bound New Zealander Shane van Ginsbergen has won Australia’s most-prestigious auto race, the Bathurst 1000, for the second straight year and third time overall.Van Ginsbergen and Kiwi co-driver Richie Stanaway drove their Red Bull Camaro to a 19.9 second win Sunday over Australians Brodie Kosteki and Dave Russell in the 60th anniversary edition of the race on the Mount Panorama circuit. Anton de Pasquale and Tony D’Alberto were third, 33 seconds behind van Ginsbergen.With the win, Van Ginsbergen cut Kostecki’s overall lead in the Supercars championship to 131 points.Van Ginsbergen and Stanaway started from sixth on the grid in the Triple Eight Racing car in warm dry conditions on Sunday. Kosteki was on pole position in the Coca-Cola Chevrolet and Depasquale was fifth in a Ford Mustang.Van Ginsbergen led for most of the second half of the six hour race and had a mostly trouble-free day, though he complained of a soft brake pedal after one pit stop and had a minor...