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Local lawmakers join community leaders, nurses fighting planned closure of Leominster birthing center

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:37 GMT

Local lawmakers joined community leaders and nurses at an event Monday as they continue to fight the planned closure of a birthing center in Leominster. UMass Memorial Health Alliance previously announced plans to close the birthing center at UMass Memorial Health Alliance-Clinton Hospital in Leominster, effective Sept. 23. UMass Memorial has cited staffing issues and few births on a daily basis as some reasons for the planned shutdown, arguing there are other hospitals in the area offering inpatient maternity services.Opponents of the closure, though, have raised concerns, saying the move would endanger mothers who would otherwise receive care at the Leominster birthing center. As the planned closure date nears, the state Department of Public Health earlier this month asked for a complete plan from UMass Memorial and a new closure date later than the 23rd, writing “Based upon the information provided to date, the Department does not believe the Hospital’s closure plan is ...

Ding-Dong deal: Hostess sells to JM Smucker for $5.6B after bankruptcy rebuild

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:37 GMT

Hostess, the maker of snack classics like Twinkies and HoHos, is being sold to J.M. Smucker in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $5.6 billion.Smucker, which makes everything from coffee to peanut butter and jelly, will pay $34.25 per share in cash and stock, and it will also pick up approximately $900 million in net debt.Hostess Brands Inc. shareholders will receive $30 in cash and 0.03002 shares of The J.M. Smucker Co. stock for each share of stock that they own.“We believe this is the right partnership to accelerate growth and create meaningful value for consumers, customers and shareholders. Our companies share highly complementary go-to market strategies, and we are very similar in our core business principles and operations,” Hostess President and CEO Andy Callahan said in a prepared statement Monday.Twinkies went big when Hostess put them on shelves in 1930, and it followed up with a string of sweet concoctions like DingDongs, Zingers and Sno Balls.In an interview ...

DraftKings apologizes for 9/11 sports be promo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:37 GMT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Sports betting company DraftKings apologized Monday after using the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks to entice people to bet on baseball and football games on the anniversary of the tragedy that killed nearly 3,000 people.The Boston-based company offered users a 9/11-themed promotion that required three New York-based teams — the Yankees, Mets and Jets — to win their games Monday, the 22nd anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and the downing of a passenger jet in a field in Pennsylvania.After an outcry on social media from people offended by the promotion titled “Never Forget,” DraftKings took it down and apologized.“We sincerely apologize for the featured parlay that was shared briefly in commemoration of 9/11,” the company wrote. “We respect the significance of this day for our country and especially for the families of those who were directly affected.”Brett Eagleson, whose father, Bruce, was kil...

Flooding in eastern Libya after weekend storm leaves 2,000 people feared dead

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:37 GMT

By SAMY MAGDY (Associated Press)CAIRO (AP) — Mediterranean storm Daniel caused devastating floods in Libya that swept away entire neighborhoods and wrecked homes in multiple coastal towns in the east of the North African nation. As many as 2,000 people were feared dead, one of the country’s leaders said Monday.The destruction appeared greatest in Derna, a city formerly held by Islamic extremists in the chaos that has gripped Libya for more than a decade and left it with crumbling and inadequate infrastructure. Libya remains divided between two rival administrations, one in the east and one in the west, each backed by militias and foreign governments. The confirmed death toll from the weekend flooding stood at 61 as of late Monday, according to health authorities. But the tally did not include Derna, which had become inaccessible, and many of the thousands missing there were believed carried away by waters.Video by residents of the city posted online showed major devastat...

These plants are almost impossible to kill. Here’s how to make them thrive.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:37 GMT

Are you thinking of growing indoor plants? If so, you may want to start with snake plants (Sansevieria species) since they are virtually impossible to kill. The only way you kill them is by planting them in a container without drainage holes or using a soil mix that drains poorly. In either case, standing water will cause their roots to rot. However, on the plus side, as long as the water delivered to snake plants can drain through, they will thrive no matter how much light may reach them and can survive for weeks, if not months, without any water at all.Snake plant gets its name from its leathery leaves that resemble snakeskin and come to a sharp point like a viper’s tail. Never cut off this pointed tip since, if you do, the leaf to which it was attached will die. The plant is also referred to as mother-in-law’s tongue due to its indefatigable ability to thrive under any circumstances. Although the snake plants you typically see are no more than three feet tall, there are 70 Sansev...

When is the best time to get married in Vegas? The answers may surprise you

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:37 GMT

By Jessica Hill | Las Vegas Review-Journal (TNS)LAS VEGAS — Every year thousands of people flock to the “wedding capital of the world” to get hitched.But whether the wedding is officiated by Elvis or in the picturesque landscapes of Red Rock, when is the most popular time of the year to get married in Las Vegas? The answers might surprise you.Clark County wedding records show that every day in Southern Nevada, anywhere between 158 and 240 couples get married. So far in 2023, more than 41,000 couples were married.Here were the most popular months to get married from 2019-2022, according to data from Clark County.1. OctoberWith the temperatures starting to drop from a typically blazing hot summer, fall is a great time to get married in the valley, especially outdoors. Since 2019, more than 28,000 couples have gotten hitched in October.2. NovemberMore than 26,000 couples have said “I do” in Clark County during November since 2019. Like October, November is a great month for wedding par...

‘Stop Cop City’ petition campaign in limbo after signatures presented to Atlanta officials

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:37 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta officials refused to verify tens of thousands of signatures submitted on Monday by activists trying to stop the construction of a police and firefighter training center, citing a recent court order.The activists had gathered jubilantly after obtaining what they said were the signatures of more than 116,000 Atlanta residents, far more than necessary to force a vote on the center that critics have dubbed “Cop City.”But shortly after they began hauling more than a dozen boxes of paperwork to the clerk’s office, Atlanta officials said they were legally barred from beginning the process of verifying the forms, saying organizers had missed an Aug. 21 deadline. The deadline had been previously extended until September by a federal judge, but an appellate court on Sept. 1 paused the enforcement of that order, throwing the effort into legal limbo.The city’s latest move took activists by surprise and further outraged organizers, who have accused officials of...

Eight overdoses in same part of downtown Montreal Sunday, public health investigating

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:37 GMT

MONTREAL — Eight overdoses over a few hours in downtown Montreal this weekend reflect how homeless Indigenous people have started consuming hard and unsafe street drugs, says the head of a shelter that serves the vulnerable community.The overdoses, which sent six people to hospital, are being investigated by public health authorities and police.Heather Johnston, executive director of Projets Autochtones du Québec, which runs a shelter for Indigenous people in downtown Montreal, said her staff were the first to respond on Sunday with naloxone, a drug that temporarily reverses the effects of opioid overdoses.“There was a community member who ran up to the shelter, grabbed our staff – who grabbed their naloxone kits – who went down to where the incident took place, administered naloxone and called 911,” she said in an interview Monday.Johnston said six people who overdosed on Sunday used her organization’s services. “My understanding is there were two people who...

TSX rises despite energy weakness, U.S. stock markets also post gain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:37 GMT

TORONTO — Broad-based strength led by base metal, financial and tech stocks gave Canada’s main stock index a boost Monday despite weakness in energy, while U.S. stock markets also rose to start the trading week, led by technology names.It was a reprieve from the choppiness of the previous week, where the S&P/TSX composite index lost more than two per cent over the five-day stretch.On Monday, the index ticked up 108.11 points at 20,182.76.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 87.13 points at 34,663.72. The S&P 500 index was up 29.97 points at 4,487.46, while the Nasdaq composite was up 156.37 points at 13,917.90.Despite the positivity on the markets Monday, it’s wise to be cautious, said Hadiza Djataou, vice-president and portfolio manager of global bonds at Mackenzie Investments. Oil is flirting with US$90 per barrel, and economic data is showing weakness in the economy, particularly in Canada where consumers are feeling the weight of higher interest rat...

NDP wants Suncor CEO to tell MPs why company moving away from focus on clean energy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:37 GMT

OTTAWA — NDP MP Charlie Angus will ask the natural resources committee to summon the CEO of oilsands giant Suncor when the House of Commons resumes next week.Angus said CEO Rich Kruger has a lot of explaining to over his remarks to investors on a conference call in August.Kruger, who took over as Suncor CEO in April, said the company had a “disproportionate” focus on the longer-term energy transition to low-emitting and renewable fuels. He said it needed to revise its direction toward the immediate financial opportunities in the oilsands.“Today, we win by creating value through our large integrated asset base underpinned by oilsands,” he said on Aug. 15.Last year, before Kruger took over, Suncor sold off its solar and wind power assets, and expanded its fossil fuel assets by purchasing a new oilsands mine.Angus, who is the NDP critic for natural resources, called Kruger’s comments “shocking” and “irresponsible.”“We’ve...