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Kelly McKinney: Are we as a nation ready for the next big threat? What Oct. 7 and the pandemic have taught us

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:08 GMT

NEW YORK — I was stunned by the early morning headline that appeared in my email. According to The New York Times, Israeli officials had known about Hamas’ plan for more than a year before it launched its Oct. 7 attacks.This could not be true. The Israel that I have come to know over the past 22 years is a beacon of vigilance, with a hard-bitten approach to threat protection that it has learned through decades of painful experience. And it has generously shared its expertise with our professionals in New York and around the world.Yet in this case instead of acting, Israeli military and intelligence dismissed this startling revelation as “aspirational.” In New York City, we call this “talking away the job,” and it is a sure sign that a healthy complacency has taken hold.Complacency comes in a variety of forms — misplaced hope, denial, faith, fatalism — but the results are always the same. It leaves you flat-footed in the face of fast-mo...

Vermont man arrested on drug sale warrant from NH

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:08 GMT

SHAFTSBURY, Vt. (NEWS10) -- A Bennington, Vermont man was arrested Wednesday on an active warrant out of New Hampshire for selling heroin, according to the Vermont State Police. Joshua Willette, 38, was arrested after troopers pulled him over in Shaftsbury. Get the latest news, weather, sports and more delivered right to your inbox! On Wednesday, around 11:28 a.m., troopers pulled over a car on US Route 7 in Shaftsbury. During the stop, police say the driver, identified as Willette, was found to have an extraditable warrant out of New Hampshire for heroin sales.Willette was arrested and was lodged at the Marble Valley Correctional Facility in place of $100,000 bail. He is scheduled for arrangement in Vermont Superior Court Bennington Criminal Division on Thursday.

Search efforts for missing St. Louis woman continue this morning, volunteers wanted

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:08 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- The search continues for a missing Marquisha Williams, despite her ex-boyfriend, Trenton Ivy, admitting to murder in police custody, police say. The missing 29-year-old St. Louis mother of four is feared dead after her ex-boyfriend was charged with her murder on Wednesday.“We don’t have her yet. That’s the most critical point; we don’t have her back yet,”  Williams’ stepfather, Terrence Chavis said. “When we get her back, we’ll stop. Until then, we won’t stop.”Search efforts continue Thursday morning, starting at 9 a.m. Williams’ family is asking anyone who wants to help to meet them at 9 a.m. Thursday at Mount Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, located at 1600 Belt Avenue in St. Louis. The family also plans to meet there at the same time on Friday and search until around 5 p.m. on both days.They advise people to dress for the cold weather. They’re also asking volunteers to bring flashlights, tools to help clear debris and drones to fly over areas search crews can’t acce...

A light dusting brings a winter wonderland, but no major hassles

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:08 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- It’s snowing but not really sticking. Thanks to temperatures that have been at or above freezing, even overnight, and the warm ground, our slow-moving storm has been more of a mood snow than a big problem. There have been a few communities west of metro St. Louis, Wentzville and Cuba, for example, that have seen a bit more accumulation, but most of the region just has that frosted mini-wheat look to it.  On Thursday, snow will taper off towards sunrise. The skies will stay cloudy. It was breezy today, with highs near 40. Tonight, another band of light snow will wrap around our storm and drop south into St. Louis.  It’s a little colder, so we will likely see minor slushy accumulations on grassy surfaces, car tops, and back decks, maybe up to 1 inch. Overnight temperatures are once again expected to stay just above freezing, so roads will likely stay wet.  Snow may mix with rain before ending late Friday morning. Cloudy skies tomorrow afternoon, highs in the upp...

Ask Amy: Cheating might be disguised as a sex addiction

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:08 GMT

Dear Amy: I’m a man in my 30s. I’d gone on a couple of dates with “Stan” before he left for a four-month trip. We had sex both times. He was sweet, romantic, and we got along well.When he got back, we started dating again and he said he didn’t want to have sex for a while because he believed he was a sex addict.He started going to 12-step meetings. His rules about sex kept changing — first it was no sex for 90 days, then he changed that to some sex acts were OK, but not others.About three weeks in, we had a really lovely, romantic overnight date and he left to meet a friend for coffee. The next day he told me they had sex.Since we hadn’t agreed to be exclusive, I overlooked it.A month later, I had to fly to my hometown because my dad, who had dementia, had stopped eating and drinking. He was taken off fluids but hung on for nearly three weeks before he died. I was away for a month and was at the nursing home 12 hours a day. It was devastating.Halfway through, Stan called to co...

Local DC-area pizza chain recognized by Italian critics

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:08 GMT

toggle audio on and off change volume download audio WTOP's Matt Kaufax reports on how a local pizza shop was recognized by an Italian-based critics group as one of world’s most “excellent Pizzerias.” $(function () { $('.wtop-audio-container .fa-play').on('click', function(){ var audio_filename = $('div.wtop-audio-file').data("mp3-url"); if( typeof gtag === "function" ){ gtag('event', 'post_audio', { 'play': audio_filename, 'permalink': window.location.href }); } }); }); Pupatella, a pizza restaurant with multiple locat...

Flag football catching on and will be featured at the 2028 LA Games, maybe even with NFL players

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:08 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Imagine Tyreek Hill catching passes again from Patrick Mahomes. Not in a Super Bowl, either, but with a gold medal on the line for Team USA.Anything’s about to become possible after flag football was elevated to Olympic status. The non-contact sport was added to the program for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Miami’s Hill and Kansas City’s Mahomes are among the NFL players who’ve shown an interest in possibly wearing the red, white and blue in the Olympics.Flag football is a sport many may have grown up playing in the backyard or at recess in elementary school or in gym class or through leagues. In this version of American football, everyone is eligible to catch a pass on offense. And on defense, ending up with a flag is a good thing (it’s how you stop a player). The NFL has jumped on board, too, adding flag football to the league’s Pro Bowl activities. What are the rules?The standard style of the game is five-on-five with no linemen...

Mexico QB Diana Flores leads the charge as women’s flag football makes gains internationally

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:08 GMT

Diana Flores has starred in a Super Bowl halftime ad, signed a deal with Under Armour, and even coached girls at a clinic in Morocco.Mexico’s flag football quarterback did not see this coming.“For a Mexican girl who fell in love with a very American sport at the age of 8, I never imagined that all of this could even be a possibility for me,” she said.The possibilities — for Flores and other young women around the world — now also include the Los Angeles Games in 2028 since flag football has been added to the Olympic program.When it comes to gold medals, the women’s side seems better positioned to crack American dominance as NFL fans pencil in Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill for a U.S. dream team in Los Angeles.Mexico routed the United States 39-6 in the women’s final of the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, though quarterback Vanita Krouch and the Americans gained some revenge in July with a 26-21 win over Mexico for gold in the Americas tournament of the In...

Football’s top dog: Kirk Herbstreit’s golden retriever Ben has become a fan favorite

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:08 GMT

Move over Uga, there’s a new top dog in football.Ben, a golden retriever owned by Kirk Herbstreit, became an instant fan favorite throughout college football and the NFL this season. “It’s crazy, right. It’s been fun. He’s so welcoming to people because it’s been great,” Herbstreit said as he was taking Ben on a walk around the hotel before the Dec. 14 game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders.Football’s two most beloved canines got to meet before the SEC Championship game on Dec. 2. Uga XI and Ben exchanged greetings and got to sniff each other on the sideline in Atlanta.This is the second year Herbstreit has been football’s busiest announcer as the analyst on Amazon Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football”, part of the crew for ESPN’s “GameDay” and then calling Saturday night college football games on either ESPN or ABC.Besides the hectic schedule, the 10-year-old, 95-pound golden retriever has provided a piece...

North Korea’s Kim vows to bolster war readiness to repel US-led confrontations

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:08 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for bolstered war readiness to repel what he said were unprecedented United States-led confrontational moves, state media reported Thursday, as rival South Korea vowed a stern retaliation against any provocations by the North.Kim’s comments during the key political meeting tasked with setting state objectives for 2024 indicated North Korea will likely continue weapons tests to modernize its nuclear arsenal. Observers say Kim likely hopes to eventually use his boosted arsenal as leverage in potential diplomacy with Washington, possibly after the 2024 U.S. presidential election in November.During Wednesday’s second-day session of the ruling party’s plenary meeting, Kim set forth unspecified tasks for the military and the munitions industry to “further accelerate the war preparations” in the face of anti-North Korea “confrontation moves by the U.S. and its vassal forces unprecedented in history,” the official Korean...