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Flesh-eating bacteria in seaweed growing concern for beachgoers and doctors in Florida

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

Beaches in Florida are already swamped by seaweed, but now a new trait in a flesh-eating bacteria is raising concerns. “This is not a new bacteria, but it’s a new aggressive ability for this bacteria to attach to the plastic and to be on our Sargassum,” said Dr. Tim Laird, Chief Medical Officer at Heath First Medical Group. The aggressive nature of this bacteria found in the seaweed blob hitting Florida beaches is causing concerns for doctors and beachgoers.“This infection can be aggressive and that’s when we called it a so-called flesh-eating bacteria,” said Dr. Laird.“Flesh-eating bacteria, I don’t know what it is but I’m afraid of it so I’m not going to take a chance on it,” said Maria Sanchez, Brevard County resident. Dr. Laird advised people to avoid going to the beach if they have any cuts or open wounds.“It’s petrifying, that’s all I need to get a cut, that’s all, forget about it,”...

South Carolina man uses ‘spray-painted Nintendo Duck Hunt game pistol’ to rob business, deputies say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

(CNN) – Authorities in South Carolina say a man spray-painted a toy gun and used it to rob a store. But they say he didn’t just use any toy gun: it was the iconic Nintendo Duck Hunt pistol. The robbery happened late Tuesday afternoon in York County. Officials say 25-year-old David Dalesandro used the Nintendo gun to rob a convenience store, showing the clerk the fake weapon in his waistband and demanding cash. Approximately $300 was taken from the clerk.He was arrested a short time later in a parking lot down the street. Deputies found the the toy gun in his pants. He was arrested and booked into the York County Detention Center.

Amazon to pay $31 million in privacy violation penalties for Alexa voice assistant and Ring camera

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Amazon agreed Wednesday to pay a $25 million civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations it violated a child privacy law and deceived parents by keeping for years kids’ voice and location data recorded by its popular Alexa voice assistant.Separately, the company agreed to pay $5.8 million in customer refunds for alleged privacy violations involving its doorbell camera Ring.The Alexa-related action orders Amazon to overhaul its data deletion practices and impose stricter, more transparent privacy measures. It also obliges the tech giant to delete certain data collected by its internet-connected digital assistant, which people use for everything from checking the weather to playing games and queueing up music.“Amazon’s history of misleading parents, keeping children’s recordings indefinitely, and flouting parents’ deletion requests violated COPPA (the Child Online Privacy Protection Act) and sacrificed privacy for profits,” Samuel Levine, the F...

Miami man wins $1 million from scratch-off ticket

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

A South Florida man hit the jackpot when he won $1 million from a scratch-off ticket.Willie Turner, of Miami, claimed a $1 million prize from the BILLION DOLLAR GOLD RUSH SUPREME Scratch-Off game at the Lottery’s Miami District Office, the Florida Lottery announced Wednesday in a news release. He chose to receive his winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $880,000.00.Turner purchased his ticket from Monar Market, located at 1108 Northwest 62nd Street in Miami. The store will receive $2,000 for selling the winning ticket.The $30 scratch-off game launched in February 2021 and features four top prizes of $15 million, and 24 prizes of $1 million. The overall odds of winning are 1-in-2.59.According to the Florida Lottery, Scratch-Off games accounted for approximately 77 percent of ticket sales in 2021-2022. Since inception, Scratch-Off games have generated more than $17.06 billion for the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund (EETF).

Pro-Ukraine Russian soldiers bring taste of war to Putin’s doorstep again

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

Two groups who claim to be Russians fighting on Kyiv’s side in the war in Ukraine said Thursday they were battling Moscow’s troops in Russia’s Belgorod region, and had destroyed military equipment.It is the second time the two pro-Ukraine paramilitary groups — the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Legion of Free Russia — have claimed to have made an incursion onto Russian territory in the past two weeks.“Our advance units are already fighting on the outskirts of Shebekino,” the Russian Volunteer Corps said on Telegram, referring to a Russian town less than 10 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.The Legion of Free Russia claimed to have destroyed a Russian armored vehicle and a military mortar system.Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region, said several apartment buildings had been shelled, wounding one person.According to spokesperson for the Russian defense ministry Igor Konashenkov, quoted by state news agency TASS, Russian troops kille...

Labour receives formal complaint over suspended MP Geraint Davies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

LONDON — A woman has submitted a formal complaint to the Labour Party over the conduct of MP Geraint Davies, who POLITICO revealed is facing multiple allegations of sexual harassment.Five women said Davies, a former House of Commons committee chair whom Labour suspended Thursday morning, subjected them to unwanted sexual attention, both physical and verbal, after coming into contact with them through his work as an MP.The complaint to Labour was submitted by a sixth woman — not one of the original five who shared allegations of inappropriate touching and sexual comments by the MP. A seventh woman said she was seeking advice on whether to submit a complaint.Labour bosses meanwhile told staff Thursday that they had launched a review of the party’s complaints system. David Evans, general secretary of Labour, wrote to party employees outlining the move.He said the decision had been triggered by both POLITICO’s recent reporting on a Labour aide accused of sexual harassment an...

Jaylon Johnson tells ESPN radio he expects to attend Chicago Bears OTAs next week — and why he missed the 1st 2 weeks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson plans to attend organized team activities at Halas Hall next week, he told ESPN radio Thursday.Johnson missed the first two weeks of OTAs, which are voluntary, but he has been participating in meetings via video conference call. Coach Matt Eberflus said after practice Wednesday he hoped to have Johnson in the fold at least by mandatory minicamp June 13-15 and potentially next week.Johnson said on ESPN’s Keyshawn, JWill and Max show he didn’t attend the first two weeks because he was spending time with his daughter in their hometown of Fresno, Calif.“I don’t get too much time during the season to get with her,” he said. “For me, the offseason is a lot of time for her, to make that up for family. I’m a big family guy for sure, being a young dad, just trying to be present in my daughter’s life. So I take a lot of pride in that.”Johnson said he was also tending to business, including preparing...

DeSantis barnstorms New Hampshire and Trump returns to Iowa as rivalry intensifies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

By MICHELLE L. PRICE, STEVE PEOPLES and THOMAS BEAUMONT (Associated Press)LACONIA, N.H. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis kicked off his first visit to New Hampshire as a declared presidential candidate Thursday by turning his focus to President Joe Biden, criticizing him for championing a move to demote the early-voting state from its prominent role picking presidential candidates.The appearance by DeSantis before New Hampshire voters comes as former President Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail in Iowa, marking the first time both Republicans were pitching themselves before voters as official candidates.The Florida governor, appearing in Laconia, repeated an oblique jab he’s made lately at Trump, a celebrity and former reality show star, saying that “leadership is not about entertainment.”But he focused more on Biden and said the president was wrong to back a Democratic National Committee move to have New Hampshire hold its Democratic primary the sam...

Twitter may be worth one-third what Musk paid for it last fall as Fidelity fund marks down value

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

By The Associated PressTwitter may now be worth one-third of what Elon Musk paid for the social media platform just seven months ago.The Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund has reduced the market value of its equity stake in Twitter for a third time, now putting it at $6.55 million. That’s down from the nearly $20 million the Fidelity fund valued its stake at in October. Financial services provider Fidelity Investments is privately held, not public, but is required by the SEC to regularly disclose its holdings. Because Twitter is a private company now called X Holdings Corp., information about its finances can’t be verified.Musk took control of Twitter in October, after a protracted legal battle and months of uncertainty. The CEO of Tesla, who also owns SpaceX, bought Twitter for $44 billion. The billionaire financed the purchase with funds including loans from a group of banks. Musk has said the $44 billion price tag for Twitter was too high but that the company had great po...

Two adults sentenced in 2022 road rage incidents

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- On Wednesday afternoon, Gillio Repetto and Serenity Nieblas were both charged in two separate road rage incidents that took place in 2022.Both adults pleaded not guilty to accepting a plea agreement with the district attorney's office."For a stipulated eight years," said Honary Michael Popkins, San Diego County Judge. "We will submit on the agreement your honor," said the attorney for Gillio Repetto, Gloria Collins. Dozens of ghost guns seized in San Diego County over 3-month period A judge sentenced Gillio Repetto to eight years in prison. Repetto received two years for an assault with a firearm, two years for a gun charge, and three years for great bodily injury. He has time served credit of more than 400 days.In May 2022, prosecutors argued Repetto and a 34-year-old man were racing in their cars. They stopped at the intersection of Olympic Parkway and Town Center Drive in Chula Vista.Cell phone video showed Repetto and the man getting into a fistfight. Pr...