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Judge strikes down Arkansas ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:56 GMT

By ANDREW DeMILLO (Associated Press)LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal judge struck down Arkansas’ first-in-the-nation ban on gender-affirming care for children as unconstitutional Tuesday, the first ruling to overturn such a prohibition as a growing number of Republican-led states adopt similar restrictions.U.S. District Judge Jay Moody issued a permanent injunction against the Arkansas law, which would have prohibited doctors from providing gender-affirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery to anyone under 18.Arkansas’ law, which Moody temporarily blocked in 2021, also would have prohibited doctors from referring patients elsewhere for such care.In his order, Moody ruled that the prohibition violated the due process and equal protection rights of transgender youth and families. He said the law also violated the First Amendment rights of medical providers by prohibiting them from referring patients elsewhere. “Rather than protecting children or ...

Rivian to join Ford, General Motors on Tesla charging network

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:56 GMT

DETROIT — Electric vehicle maker Rivian says it will follow General Motors and Ford and join Tesla’s charging network next year.The startup truck, SUV and delivery van maker says Tuesday that like GM and Ford, it will include ports with Tesla’s connector on future Rivian vehicles starting in 2025. It also will offer an adapter for owners of current Rivian EVs.It is another domino to fall as the auto industry considers switching to Tesla’s connector, which it calls the North American Charging Standard. At present, nearly all automakers other than Tesla use what is called a CCS connector developed with the Society of Automotive Engineers.Tesla has more direct current fast-charging plugs in the U.S. than any other network, and its stations are in prime locations along freeway travel corridors.Other automakers are also looking into the switch. On Monday, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said his company’s U.S. teams are studying the change and will make a decision i...

In race against clock, expanding fleet of ships searches for submersible lost near Titanic wreck

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:56 GMT

By PATRICK WHITTLE and HOLLY RAMER (Associated Press)In a race against the clock on the high seas, an expanding international armada of ships and airplanes searched Tuesday for a submersible that vanished in the North Atlantic while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic.U.S. Coast Guard officials said the search covered 10,000 square miles (26,000 square kilometers) but turned up no sign of the lost sub known as the Titan. Although they planned to continue looking, time was running out because the vessel had less than two days of oxygen left.“This is a very complex search, and the unified team is working around the clock,” Cpt. Jamie Frederick of the First Coast Guard District in Boston told a news conference.Frederick said the crew had about 41 hours of oxygen remaining as of midday Tuesday. He added that an underwater robot had started searching in the vicinity of the Titanic and that there was a push to get salvage equipment to the scene in case the sub ...

Boston adult posing as teen is found out after her ‘father’ came to school

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:56 GMT

After a man showed up at a Boston high school complaining that his daughter had been bullied, staff members discovered that the student in question was an adult woman who fraudulently attended three public schools in this academic year, the superintendent said.The woman was ordered to stay away from Boston Public Schools and is now under police investigation, Superintendent Mary Skipper said in a letter to students’ families on Tuesday.TV station WCVB said the woman is in her 30s.The alleged fraud came to light on Wednesday, June 14, at English High School, in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood, a police report said.The “father” came to the school and told the office staff he wished to pull the student from classes because she had been bullied. He said she would be transferring to St. Columbkille, a private school in Brighton.The staff found this puzzling, as the student had enrolled at English School less than a week before, on June 8, and there was barely a week rema...

Top Senate Democrat backs updates to hospital closure rules as Leominster maternity unit plans to shutter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:56 GMT

The top Senate Democrat on health care financing expressed support Tuesday for changing the rules around state-licensed hospital closures and offered to reach out to the head of UMass Memorial Health Care to discuss the closure of a birthing center in Leominster.More than 40 hospitals or health care units have closed in Massachusetts since 2009, according to the largest nurses union in the state. State law is “failing to meet this moment of crisis” for patients and caregivers, the Massachusetts Nurses Association said, which is backing a bill on Beacon Hill that would put more rules in place for hospitals looking to shut their doors.Sen. Cindy Friedman, the Senate chair of the Health Care Financing Committee, said she thinks it is “very important and reasonable” to understand what was behind the decision to close the Leominster birthing center, which is run by the UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital.And Friedman said she supports changing the way the state handles determi...

Column: ChatGPT won’t change the way we value books and writing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:56 GMT

John Warner | Chicago TribuneOnly fools put far-reaching predictions into print where they can be immortalized and then resurrected to prove the foolishness of the predictor.Call me a fool because I’m laying down my marker. ChatGPT and its large-language model artificial intelligence cousins are going to be much less disruptive to the book industry than many of its boosters seem to believe.In the last several months I have seen predictions, such as a Twitter post from Johns Hopkins University political scientist and author Yascha Mounk saying that “It’s only a matter of time until artificial intelligence outperforms humans on skills we once thought of as distinctive to our species, such as composing a beautiful piece of music or writing a moving story.”In a follow-up tweet, he asks if anyone wants to bet on it.I do.I get being amazed by what this technology seems to be able to do, but I think we are being dazzled by a bit of a conjuring trick and forgetting about what’s really happe...

Traveling internationally this summer? Here’s what you need to know about passports

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:56 GMT

Alexandra Skores | The Dallas Morning News (TNS)Travelers are flocking to international destinations this summer to make up for canceled trips during the pandemic.But during the pandemic, some travelers may have forgotten about one key part of international travel: a passport.The U.S. Department of State is estimating 10 to 13 weeks of processing for routine passports, and seven to nine weeks for expedited passports, not accounting for mailing times. In March, the department said it was expecting this summer to be the busiest travel season on record.If you’re a traveler dealing with the long waits to get a passport this summer, experts are sharing advice to get appointments for applications and renewals.Hayley Berg, lead economist at Hopper recommends that travelers check passport rules for the country they are traveling to. Some airlines will not allow passengers with less than six months of passport validity from their trip to board flights.The U.S. Department of State’s website s...

30-acre brush fire in rural East County prompts evacuations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:56 GMT

SAN DIEO -- A wind-driven wildfire burned dozens of acres Tuesday in rural East County and prompted authorities to order evacuations.The brush fire was reported shortly after 11:30 a.m. near Black Wood and Old Mine roads on the Manzanita Reservation, according to Cal Fire San Diego.At 1:10 p.m., an evacuation order was issued northeast of the Manzanita and Los Posta Indian reservations. Evacuees were told to go to Golden Acorn Casino at 1800 Golden Acorn Way in Campo or Lo Posta Casino at 777 Crestwood Road in Boulevard. Body of missing hiker found at Three Sisters Falls The blaze, dubbed the Blackwood Fire, is 30 acres in size and is burning at a moderate rate of spread, fire officials said. About five structures are threatened.Check back for updates on this developing story.

Legoland among best amusement and water parks in the world: Tripadvisor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:56 GMT

CARLSBAD, Calif. — Legoland California is being recognized as one of the best amusement and water parks in the world.On Tuesday, Tripadvisor released their 2023 Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best Amusement Parks and Water Parks awards, naming the Legoland as one of the best theme parks not just in the U.S., but around the globe.Tripadvisor analyzed 12 months of review data from travelers around the world to determine the Best of the Best. Fewer than 1% of their 8 million listings are awarded the distinction, the travel site said. Legoland California bringing San Diego to Miniland U.S.A Legoland California came in as the 6th-best amusement park in the U.S. and the 24th-best in the world. It was the only park in California to make both the U.S. and world rankings.You can find the full Best of the Best list here.Located in Carlsbad, Legoland California Resort is a celebration of all things Lego, with their signature bricks inspiring nearly every inch of the park. U.S. based Legolan...

Man with hit-and-run history jailed after high-speed crash kills five young women in Minneapolis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:56 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man who served a hit-and-run sentence in a California prison until his release earlier this year remained jailed Tuesday, awaiting charges after a crash killed five young women in Minneapolis when a speeding driver blew past a state trooper, ran a red light and slammed into their car.Derrick John Thompson, 27, of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, was evaluated at a hospital and then booked into the Hennepin County Jail on Monday in the aftermath of Friday’s crash. The victims — Salma Abdikadir, Siham Adam, Sabiriin Ali, Sahra Gesaade and Sagal Hersi — were all between 17 and 20 years old. Thousands of mourners from the area’s large Somali American community attended the young women’s funeral Monday at the Dar Al-Farooq mosque in Bloomington, where the five had been active members. They were returning home from a Somali mall where they had henna applied in preparation for a friend’s wedding scheduled for the next day when their car was struck.Hennepin County Attorn...