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Great gardening advice is at your fingertips with new apps and books

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:55 GMT

Whether you like settling in with a photo-laden good book filled with gorgeous gardens and expert advice as to how to create your own, or you’re really happy outside, smartphone in hand, using a state-of-the-art app to give you ideas for landscape design, native plants and more, we’ve got the newest and best of both worlds here.Apps to use both outside and inPLANTUM (FORMERLY NATUREID) – The app formerly called NatureID, now known as Platum, is like having your own personal botanist at hand, as this app will not only identify more than 15,000 plant species, it also will diagnose their ailments and give care advice. And that’s only the beginning of what this app – supported by a team of expert botanists – can do, as it also identifies insects, rocks and even mushrooms, all by just taking a photo and letting the app do the rest. Available on both iOS and Android.PL@NTNET – Pl@ntNet is another plant-identifying app, but this one lets your inner botanist soar. For while you can shoot ph...

Officials identify remains found at Indiana farm in 1983 as Chicago teen slain by late serial killer

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:55 GMT

By RICK CALLAHAN (Associated Press)INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Human remains found buried in 1983 at an abandoned Indiana farm have been identified as those of a Chicago teenager who was a victim of the late serial killer Larry Eyler, authorities said Tuesday.The remains, which were found near the remains of three young men Eyler also killed, are those of Keith Lavell Bibbs, who was 16 when he died, according to the Newton County Coroner’s Office and the DNA Doe Project.Eyler confessed to at least 20 killings before dying in 1994 at an Illinois prison, where he was on death row for the 1984 murder of 15-year-old Danny Bridges of Chicago.In 1990, Eyler confessed to killing a Black male in July 1983 at a Newton County farm and described that male as being in his late teens or early 20s, said Pam Lauritzen, spokeswoman for the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit that works to identify cold case victims.Bibbs, who was a Chicago resident, would have been 16 at the time of his death, she sai...

Column: Do we have to call it ‘girl dinner’? Absolutely not

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:55 GMT

Erin Booke | (TNS) The Dallas Morning NewsThe New York Times recently wrote about a trending hashtag on TikTok called #girldinner. When I first heard the phrase, I about lost my mind. Can’t women just eat a plate of food without it becoming A Thing?The phrase is catching everyone’s attention right now, and headlines range from “Girl dinner could be the key to food joy” to “Why no one wants to have dinner with Gen Z,” to my personal favorite, “Before Girl Dinner, Mom Dinner was here first.”But once I regained my composure, I admitted that I actually eat like this all the time, as do a lot of people (not just “girls”). You can call it an “artfully arranged pile of snacks” that requires “no preparation just vibes.” In our house, we often call it Picnic Night or, simply, “makin’ a snack plate.”The snack plate is all about no-cook foods that help you clean out the fridge and pantry, and don’t require a lot of planning or cleanup. So honestly, our whole family eats like this a couple of t...

Massachusetts casinos fined for allowing illegal sports bets in February

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:55 GMT

Gaming regulators fined the three casinos in Massachusetts with in-person sportsbooks a total of $50,000 Tuesday for illegally allowing patrons to place wagers earlier this year on sporting events involving in-state collegiate teams.The three cases stem back to basketball games in early February, only a handful of days after the launch of in-person sports betting at Encore Boston Harbor, MGM Springfield, and Plainridge Park Casinos.The fines — $10,000 for Encore and $20,000 each for MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park — are much less than the millions the venues have pulled in this year from in-person casino and sports gambling. Regulators decided the fines during private conversations.Betting on in-state collegiate teams is against the law unless they are competing in a tournament with four or more competitors like March Madness.Illegal bets at MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park occurred because the collegiate teams involved were incorrectly listed as out-of-state comp...

Sea lion in video was likely chasing another, expert says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:55 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Beachgoers at La Jolla Cove were startled Sunday evening when two sea lions seemingly charged at people on the shore. However, marine mammal experts say that was likely not the case.While the incident happened at a time when summer crowds filled the tiny beach, the two male sea lions were likely just chasing each other to establish a territory for mating -- a normal pattern of behavior for the mammals that is not considered an act of aggression towards humans."In the sea lion world, this is mating season and the males are trying to establish territory, both in the water and on land," Robyn Davidoff, chair of the Sierra Club Seal Society, said to FOX5SanDiego.com. "They do that by pushing the other one out of the way." Sea lions at La Jolla Cove: What to know before visiting A video of the incident captured by a beachgoer and obtained by FOX 5 showed just that, she said. One of the male sea lions came out of the water, approaching another one on the beach to spar with ...

Lac Ste. Anne pilgrimage cancelled, thousands clean up Alberta campsite after storm

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:55 GMT

LAC STE. ANNE, Alta. — Thousands of religious pilgrims were cleaning up their ravaged campsite Tuesday after a heavy storm blew through Lac Ste. Anne, Alta., cancelling events for the first time in decades.Monday night, as many as 10,000 people were at the popular pilgrimage site where First Nations people have gathered since at least 1889 to honour St. Anne and for untold generations before that. “It was really extreme last night,” said Andrew Papenbrock of the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton, which organizes the pilgrimage. “We had porta potties blown over and camps that were blown over and soaked out.”The area saw several tornado warnings Monday night, including one that touched down in Wildwood, about 60 kilometres west. Environment Canada issued warnings, which were passed on to the pilgrims, said Papenbrock.“People hunkered down.”Papenbrock said the storm struck with heavy winds, rain and lightning. Trees were blown over, including one that...

Unexplained outage at Chase Bank leads to interruptions at Zelle payment network

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:55 GMT

An unexplained outage at Chase Bank has led to interruptions for users of the Zelle payment network, who took to social media to complain. Zelle said on Twitter that its network is functioning normally and pointed a finger at Chase, saying the bank was experiencing trouble with payment processing. “The rest of the Zelle network is up and running,” it tweeted. “Chase is one of our partner banks, and as such, is in full control of the Zelle feature in their app.”Chase issued a statement noting that it’s “working to restore full service to account transfers, Zelle payments and bill payments,” but offered no details regarding the cause of the service outage or its expected duration. According to DownDetector, a site that collects user outage reports, both services have experienced service problems since about 10 a.m. Eastern Time.The problem remained unresolved as of 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time.“Our customers can continue to use all other digital banking features as normal,” Chase said...

MLB executives name Blue Jays, Orioles, Rays as top landing spots for Ohtani: report

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:55 GMT

Could two-way MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani don a Toronto Blue Jays uniform by August 1? According to some executives, it’s certainly possible.Citing multiple executives in the sport, MLB insider Jeff Passan wrote on Tuesday that the Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays are viewed as the top landing spots for Ohtani, who will be a highly-coveted free agent at season’s end.Passan notes that the Blue Jays are a longer shot to acquire Ohtani due to a thinner farm system and a lack of top prospects compared to the Orioles and Rays, who possess some of the best young players in baseball.Passan also mentioned that the Blue Jays haven’t done enough “to convince ownership to open up the coffers” and that they remain “in the muddled middle.”Entering Tuesday night’s game in Los Angeles, the Blue Jays hold a 56-45 record, are six-and-a-half games back of the Orioles for the top spot in the division, and currently hold the third and final...

West Virginia state troopers sued over Maryland man’s roadside death

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:55 GMT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A lawsuit accuses West Virginia State Police troopers of using excessive force in tackling and handcuffing a man who was walking along an interstate highway.Edmond Exline, 45, of Hagerstown, Maryland, died at a hospital after the Feb. 12 incident along I-81 near Martinsburg. A State Police statement cited by news outlets at the time said Exline was walking along the interstate when he got into a “struggle” with troopers and became unresponsive. State Police Capt. Eric Burnett in Charles Town said a Taser was used on him. “He ran into traffic and wouldn’t listen to any commands from the trooper,” Burnett told The Associated Press in March.The lawsuit says Exline was unarmed and was doing nothing wrong when three troopers tackled and handcuffed him. The troopers’ actions “were not taken in good faith and were in violation of clearly established law,” it says, adding that “no objectively reasonable police officer could have perceived the force as necessar...

Chinese foreign interference: Retired Mountie William Majcher granted bail in Quebec

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:55 GMT

LONGUEUIL, Que. — A former RCMP officer charged with helping China conduct foreign interference was granted bail on Tuesday with conditions that forbid him from leaving the country.William Majcher is charged under the Security of Information Act with conspiracy and with committing preparatory acts for the benefit of a foreign entity. Majcher, 60, was arrested Thursday in Vancouver and released from detention in British Columbia after Quebec court Judge Ann-Mary Beauchemin signed off on his bail conditions in a courtroom in Longueuil, Que., on Montreal’s South Shore.Majcher was ordered to make a $50,000 cash deposit with the court, surrender his passport and report to RCMP every week. Two sureties have also agreed to deposit an additional $200,000 as a guarantee that Majcher respects his conditions. After the hearing, federal prosecutor Marc Cigana told reporters the conditions “were negotiated by the defence and the Crown, and we thought they were able to address whateve...