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Rooming house revival: Canadian cities look to single-room homes amid housing crunch

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:48 GMT

MONTREAL — Rooming or boarding houses are regaining favour with some Canadian cities as a way to offset a lack of affordable homes, but experts warn there are pitfalls to the once-popular form of urban housing.On Tuesday, Montreal executive committee member Benoit Dorais told reporters that the city was applying its right of first refusal to purchase about 100 privately owned rooming houses, in which a person rents a single private room, and shares amenities such as bathrooms or kitchens. The move means the city has the right to match an offer to purchase them if they come for sale. He said Montreal had already purchased four of the homes and was looking to buy more, describing them as “the principle solution to fight homelessness.” “Generally this is what you can afford, and that’s why it’s the last step before you’re going in the street,” he said. Dorais was at the unveiling of a new rooming house that will become home for 20 vulnerable wo...

Venus Williams is back at Wimbledon at age 43 and ready to play on Centre Court again

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:48 GMT

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Asked two days before her 24th Wimbledon begins whether she’s still excited to play tennis at this level, Venus Williams quickly answered: “It’s so much fun.”The next question Saturday was about being on tour without her younger sister, Serena, who wrapped up her career at last year’s U.S. Open. The reply: “Not as much fun.”There is still a big-swinging, Grand Slam-winning member of the Williams family in women’s tennis, and it’s 43-year-old Venus, who recently returned to action after about five months away with a hamstring injury she called “a nightmare.”That followed a 2022 in which she participated in just four contests — all in August or September, meaning she missed the season’s initial three Grand Slam tournaments, including Wimbledon — and a 2021 in which she accumulated only a dozen.“I haven’t played a lot of matches in the last few years, and not by choice. I wanted to be here and I couldn’t,” said the elder Williams, who will meet two-time major ...

US land managers call off pesticide spraying near the Rio Chama to kill invasive grasshoppers

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:48 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Federal land managers have called off plans to spray pesticides near the Rio Chama in northern New Mexico as part of an effort to eradicate invasive grasshoppers. The decision announced Thursday by the Bureau of Land Management followed an outcry by environmentalists and others who worried that dispersing 670 gallons (2,536 liters) of carbaryl — a potent neurotoxin — would also kill bees, monarch butterflies and other insects vital to the area’s ecosystem. Although the U.S. Agriculture Department conducted an environmental assessment earlier this year, the Bureau of Land Management said additional analysis and outreach was needed. “Due to the time needed to carry out additional analysis, the project cannot be achieved this season and will no longer take place. We will continue to work on this important issue in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service,” said Pamela Mathis, the BLM’s Taos field manage...

2 men charged after young girl bitten by loose dogs in Scarborough

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:48 GMT

Two men have been charged after a young girl was attacked and bitten by two dogs in Scarborough earlier this week.Police say a woman and her daughter were walking on Midland Avenue near Lawrence Avenue East around 7:15 a.m. on June 28 when they were attacked by two guard dogs that had escaped from a nearby business. Police previously confirmed that the girl was bitten by at least one of the dogs and was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Police did not provide the age of the young girl but paramedics believe she’s approximately five or six years old.Police have arrested 39-year-old Noor Ashaqzai and 51-year-old Abdulrahman Zmarai and charged both with criminal negligence causing bodily harm. The men are scheduled to appear in court on August 8. The attack came more than a month after parents of students at Rawlinson Community School near Oakwood Avenue and St. Clair Avenue West were warned about multiple reports of dogs off leashes attacking people aft...

Elon Musk says Twitter is limiting how many posts a user can read

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:48 GMT

(KRON/NEXSTAR) – Twitter is currently limiting the amount of content its users can access per day, according to a tweet from owner and chairman Elon Musk.Musk announced Saturday that the app is “temporarily” putting a cap on the number of posts a user can “read,” with verified users having access to 6,000 posts per day and unverified users having access to only 600 per day.“New unverified” users will only be able to read 300 posts per day, Musk tweeted.Musk did not indicate how long the limitations would be in effect, but only that they were enacted “to address “extreme levels of data scraping & system manipulation.”His post also did not specify if “reading” a tweet was the same thing as scrolling past a tweet. Some users further questioned what he meant by “data scraping,” but that was not clarified. Musk says ‘cis,’ ‘cisgender’ considered slurs on Twitter Musk’s announcement came after thousands of users reported being unable to access the site on Saturday morning. DownDetec...

Medical, insect experts share how to avoid summer bug bites

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:48 GMT

WACO, Texas (FOX 44) -- The CDC released a health advisory Wednesday after receiving cases of malaria being spread. This was the first time in 20 years the CDC has had to make an advisory.Cen-Tex Pest Control owner Jeff Wooten said bugs nest in wet areas in the springtime to then move and populate in the summer.Wooten said it was best to take care of your surroundings."Mosquitos kill more people than anything else on planet Earth," said Wooten. "Nearly every year, mosquitoes kill the entire population of the city of Austin. That's every man, woman and child killed yearly by mosquitoes."Wooten said bugs are attracted to any clutter that provides moisture and coverage.Bugs can be prevented by cleaning your home and repairing any leaks.Standing water is another problem Wooten said to keep an eye on."Standing water in any pots or anything. Go ahead and dump that out and make sure those are cleaned out. That'll prevent mosquitoes and every other type of bug from having a water source and...

GoFundMe account established for St. Paul woman found dead this week

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:48 GMT

A GoFundMe account has been established for the family of Manijeh “Mani” Starren, the St. Paul woman found dead in a Woodbury storage locker this week after she’d been missing for more than two months.Starren, 33, was reported missing to police by her father on May 1. She last had contact with her family around April 21.Investigators believe her boyfriend, Joseph Steven Jorgenson, 40, dismembered Starren, according to the criminal complaint filed against him Friday.Manijeh “Mani” Starren (Courtesy of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension)Organizers say the GoFundMe account is an effort to assist Starren’s family with funeral expenses and other costs, and support her three children.“Her beautiful three kids have horrifically lost the most beautiful person in their lives,” the fundraiser says. “I don’t have many ways to help them myself so my hopes are we are (able to) help them this way.”On Wednesday, before Starren’s remains we...

New Lebanon community continues clean-up efforts

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:48 GMT

At around 2 a.m. on Thursday, Ruth Post heard her dog barking and found her home near Main Street in New Lebanon surrounded by water.“And it was just roaring… I thought it was raining,” Post said. “And it was just the sound of the water on both sides of the house.”Ruth and her husband, Douglas, call their dog a hero for alerting them immediately so they can call for help. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! “He is the hero. His name is Buddy, and he alerted us and followed us everywhere we went,” she said.Tistrya Houghtling, Town Supervisor for New Lebanon, said everyone was surprised to wake up to the natural disaster.“We have since deciphered that a pond up at the edge of Pittsfield State Forest at the top of the mountain emptied,” she said.Within two hours, fire and police officials say tens of millions of gallons of water were emptied around the main street. The water was due to a large beaver dam that broke and caused the ...

Police arrest naked, axe-wielding suspect in St. Louis after disturbance

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:48 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Authorities arrested a naked, axe-wielding suspect overnight in St. Louis while responding to a disturbance. The suspect, a 28-year-old man, was arrested around 1 a.m. Saturday. Investigators say the arrest stemmed from a domestic dispute in the Near North Riverfront neighborhood near O'Fallon and Lewis streets. Severe storms may impact the St. Louis area Saturday Police say the suspect got angered and experienced paranoid delusions before he grabbed an axe and started attacking the victim, also a 28-year-old man. The victim fought with the suspect for control of the axe, but ultimately lost consciousness. Later on, the victim woke up and spoke to a witness, who said the suspect ran away after being challenged. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News SIGN UP NOW ...

Gov. Parson signs off on I-70 expansion and $52B state budget

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:48 GMT

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Friday signed a close to $52 billion state budget, which includes billions in funding to expand Interstate 70 but also cuts roughly $555 million in spending lawmakers wanted.Explaining $555 million in cuts to the spending plan legislators passed in May, the Republican governor said the budget was close to $1.7 billion more than what he recommended in January.“Missouri’s economy is strong," Parson said in a statement. “Our revenues are up, businesses are growing and investing, and we maintain a historic revenue surplus, but we must not spend just for the sake of spending.” Severe storms may impact the St. Louis area Saturday As part of a $2.8 billion plan, I-70 will be expanded to three lanes across Missouri — from suburban St. Louis to suburban Kansas City.“This budget addresses the big issues that concern Missourians," Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Sen. Lincoln Hough said in a statement. "They are talking about the road...