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1 Colorado city among worst-run cities in US

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

DENVER (KDVR) — Historically high inflation has put a strain on municipal budgets, with the rising costs of labor, goods and services, and materials. In general, local governments made it through the pandemic relatively well, with the help of billions of dollars in federal aid. The economic aftermath, however, continues.And some cities continue to struggle more than others, particularly those that are poorly managed.Stacker listed the 50 worst-run cities in the United States using June 2023 data from WalletHub's Best- and Worst-Run Cities in America. Cities are ranked by their overall operating efficiency, which is determined by the quality of services and total budget per capita.Factors used to determine the overall quality of city services rank and score comprise weighted average scores in six key categories, including financial stability, education, health, safety, economy, and infrastructure and pollution. Scores for each of the six categories were evaluated based on 36 relevant...

Hialeah gas station employee arrested for stealing lottery ticket books worth over $50,000

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

A Hialeah gas station employee has landed in hot water after allegedly helping himself to a stash of lottery ticket books worth over 50 grand. According to Hialeah Police, the incidents occurred between January 28 and March 31 at the Shell gas station at 2230 W 68th St in Hialeah. Authorities said Cosme Calderon, 44, was seen on surveillance cameras entering the storage room and leaving with a bag in hand. The footage showed him taking advantage of a coworker’s absence, who went to use the restroom, to scan lottery ticket books on at least 18 different dates. In a statement provided to police, the victim positively identified Calderon as the employee responsible for the theft. The victim said Calderon was not authorized to access the lottery tickets and was only assigned to clean the business and work the register when needed. The total value of the stolen lottery ticket books was reported to be $53,700.Following an investigation, officers located and questioned Calderon, but ...

Dog receives custom wheelchair from Mercedes-Benz

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

A heartwarming tale of compassion and kindness unfolded when Mercedes Benz stepped in to help a dog named Bunny, who was involved in a car accident in Mexico. After the accident, Bunny had to undergo a life-altering surgery, resulting in the removal of her legs.Bunny’s story touched the hearts of many after it was shared on social media. One viewer, deeply moved by Bunny’s plight, commented that she deserved nothing less than the “Mercedes Benz of wheelchairs.”Eddie’s Wheels, a company that creates custom dog wheelchairs, and Mercedes Benz responded by providing Bunny with a set of wheels tailored to meet her specific needs. In an Instagram post that showed a before and after video of Bunny, Mercedez Benz’s US account commented, “Bunny was always worthy! A true fighter.”This heartwarming gesture from the generous companies not only improved Bunny’s quality of life but also inspired others to spread kindness and support for animal...

Florida set to execute inmate James Phillip Barnes in nurse’s 1988 hammer killing

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

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Florida is preparing to execute a man convicted of strangling his wife and brutally murdering another woman years earlier — a lethal injection that’s expected to proceed on schedule after he dropped all legal appeals and said he wants to accept his punishment.James Phillip Barnes, 61, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Thursday at Florida State Prison in Starke. He would be the fifth person put to death in the state this year.Barnes was serving a life sentence for the 1997 strangulation of his wife, 44-year-old Linda Barnes, when he wrote letters in 2005 to a state prosecutor claiming responsibility for the killing years earlier of Patricia “Patsy” Miller, a nurse who lived in a condominium in Melbourne, along Florida’s east coast.Barnes represented himself in court hearings where he offered no defense, pleaded guilty to killing Miller and did not attempt to seek a life sentence rather than the death penalty. Miller, who was 41 ...

Belarus helicopters entered Poland’s airspace as provocation, report says

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

The incursion into Poland by two Belarusian choppers was a deliberate move intended to provoke Warsaw, according to a report published Wednesday in Polish media outlet Onet.Minsk’s taunt prompted Poland to send more troops to its border with Belarus.  At first, Warsaw denied rumors of airspace violations by helicopters on Tuesday, but later explained that the border crossing took place in the area of Białowieża at a very low altitude, which made it difficult for radar systems to detect.The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs then confirmed the airspace violation Tuesday evening and said it had summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Belarusian embassy to “immediately explain the incident,” calling the violation another “element in escalating the tension at the Polish-Belarusian border.”Mariusz Błaszczak, Poland’s defense minister, said Tuesday he had convened a meeting of the National Security and Defense Affairs Committee to discuss the incident.As a result of the vio...

$1 million winning Mega Millions ticket sold in Cohasset as jackpot climbs to $1.25 billion

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

Someone on the South Shore is one million dollars richer after Tuesday night’s Mega Millions lottery drawing. Tuesday numbers were 8, 24, 30, 45 ,61. The Mega Ball was 12. No one won the jackpot. But a ticket bought at the Gulf station on Chief Justice Cushing Highway in Cohasset matched five numbers, only missing the Mega Ball number. The Cohasset ticket was one of six $1 million tickets around the country sold for Tuesday’s drawing, with other $1 million tickets sold in California, North Carolina, New York and Wisconsin. A Texas lottery player matched all four numbers and won a $4 million prize thanks to Tuesday’s megaplier. With no one winning the jackpot, though, the potential prize has grown again. Now up to $1.25 billion, Friday’s jackpot prize is the fourth largest potential prize in Mega Millions history.The Associated Press reports the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302.6 million.

WWE’s McMahon served with subpoena by federal agents

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

Federal law enforcement agents executed a search warrant and served a federal grand jury subpoena to WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon last month, according to a regulatory filing. McMahon is also taking medical leave from the sports entertainment company following recent spinal surgery.WWE said in the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that while government investigations into McMahon remain ongoing, no charges have been brought in them.The company said it has received voluntary and compulsory legal demands for documents, including from federal law enforcement and regulatory agencies, concerning the investigation and related subject matters.The Wall Street Journal had reported last year that the WWE was investigating an alleged $3 million payment from McMahon to a departing female employee following a consensual affair. WWE’s investigation into the misconduct allegations was completed last year.The announcement of McMahon’s surgery was made ...

US troops restricted to American bases, embassy in Niger

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

(CNN) — US troops in Niger have been restricted to the American military bases and US embassy in Niger, as the Biden administration works to restore democratically-elected President Mohamed Bazoum to power.A US military official said the approximately 1,000 troops were “retrograded” back to base last week, shortly after Bazoum was seized by members of the presidential guard on Wednesday. Another US official confirmed the troops are restricted to the bases and the embassy, but said all of the forces were already at their respective stations when the attempted coup occurred.The US has not yet formally decided if the situation constitutes a coup – a designation that would require the US to cut foreign and military assistance to the Nigerien government, which could have serious consequences for the fight against terrorism and stability in the region. There is no timeframe in which the US is required to make a coup designation.“We’re working really, really hard t...

Manchester, NH police search for suspect after apparent parking dispute leads to stabbing

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

Police in Manchester are looking to identify a suspect believed to have stabbed a man over a late night parking dispute.The Manchester Police Department said the incident happened sometime before 10:50 p.m. on Thursday, July 27, in the area of Union Street and Litchfield Lane where officers found a male victim suffering from a non-life-threatening stab wound.The victim told police he was stabbed after an unknown male appeared and would not allow a friend of the victim to park near his apartment.It was when the victim went outside and tried to talk to the male that a fight broke out, leading to the victim being stabbed in his upperarm.As an investigation into the stabbing continues, the police department is asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspect, who authorities described as a “light skinned Hispanic male, approximately 5’6” tall, with a thin build.”The individual was also believed to have brown hair and a goatee, and was wearing a green baseball ca...

AI-supported mammogram screening increases breast cancer detection by 20%, study finds

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

(CNN) — Artificial intelligence found more breast cancers than doctors with years of training and experience and cut doctors’ mammogram reading workload almost in half, a new early-stage study found.This doesn’t mean your hospital will let a computer determine whether you have cancer any time soon. There’s still a lot more research to do, but the study, published Tuesday in the journal The Lancet Oncology, shows that AI is safe to use in breast cancer detection and could make doctors even more effective at finding cancer than they are now.Other studies have shown that AI can be useful at predicting breast cancer risk, but they use models or have been focused on retrospective data. The new research is thought to be the first randomized control trial to compare AI-assisted breast cancer detection with detection done by well-trained humans alone.The researchers looked at scans from more than 80,000 women in Sweden who underwent a mammogram between April 2021 an...