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US Postal Service taking new steps to prevent carrier robberies, stolen mail

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service is replacing tens of thousands of antiquated keys used by postal carriers and installing thousands of high-security collection boxes to stop a surge in robberies and mail thefts, officials said Friday.The Postal Service is replacing 49,000 so-called arrow locks with electronic versions to make them less attractive to criminals who have been targeting them to steal mail from secure receptacles, and it is placing 12,000 hardened blue collection boxes in high-risk areas, according to the Postal Service and Postal Inspection Service.The announcement came days after the National Association of Letter Carriers expressed outrage as The Associated Press reported that nearly 500 postal carriers were robbed last year.“We’re doubling down on our efforts to protect our postal employees and the security of the mail. We are hardening targets — both physical and digital — to make them less desirable to thieves and working with our law enforcement part...

Supreme Court backs California law for more space for pigs; producers predict pricier pork

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday backed a California animal cruelty law that requires more space for breeding pigs, a ruling the pork industry says will lead to higher costs nationwide for pork chops and bacon.“While the Constitution addresses many weighty issues, the type of pork chops California merchants may sell is not on that list,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in an opinion for the court.Industry groups have said the law would mean expensive, industry-wide changes even though a majority of the farms where pigs are raised are not in California, the nation’s most populous state, but instead in the Midwest and North Carolina.A majority of the high court agreed that lower courts had correctly dismissed pork producers’ challenge to the law. Both liberal and conservative justices were a part of the majority, though they were not united in their reasoning.Gorsuch said the pork producers challenging the law were asking the justices to “fashion two new and more aggressive ...

Woman, 26, found shot in head on South Side

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

CHICAGO — A 26-year-old woman has died after being shot in the head on the city's South Side.Police said the woman was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head in the 8500 block of South Commercial around 4:50 a.m. Friday.She was transported to the University of Chicago Hospital where she was pronounced dead, according to police. Woman found shot to death in South Side house fire No one is in custody. Area Two detectives are investigating.

Liam and Olivia continue to reign atop Social Security's top baby names in the U.S.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dutton and Wrenlee are on the rise but they're no match for champs Liam and Olivia as the top baby names in the U.S. last year.The Social Security Administration released the annual list Friday. The agency tracks baby names in each state based on applications for Social Security cards, with names dating to 1880.It's Liam's sixth straight year as No. 1. Olivia has reigned since the name unseated Emma four years ago. Emma is No. 2.Coming in third for girls' names is Charlotte, followed by Amelia, Sophia, Isabella, Ava, Mia, Evelyn and Luna. For boys' names, Liam is followed by Noah, Oliver, James, Elijah, William, Henry, Lucas, Benjamin and Theodore.Luna is the only newcomer in the Top 10, booting Harper.The agency has been compiling the list since 1997, often revealing the impact pop culture has on baby naming trends. The smash hit “Yellowstone” has clearly influenced new parents. The neo-Western starring Kevin Costner debuted in 2018, with characters surfacing amon...

Flesh-eating 'zombie drug' saturating Los Angeles streets, officials say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

LOS ANGELES (KTLA) - A flesh-eating "zombie drug" called xylazine has been saturating the streets of Los Angeles with severe, deadly effects when mixed with illicit opioids.Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officials launched a new program to track the troubling prevalence of the substance, which is a sedative typically used by veterinarians to anesthetize animals. Tranq: The Zombie Effect Also known as “tranq” or “tranq dope” on the streets, xylazine has become increasingly present in the illicit drug supply. The drug can be cooked down into a powder form and mixed with illicit opioids such as heroin and fentanyl or pressed into counterfeit pills or sedatives.The “zombie drug” nickname stems from the substance's known effect of rotting the skin.Growing concerns over the increasing prevalence of xylazine in L.A. have law enforcement officials and addiction specialists extremely concerned.“I’ve never seen anything like what we’re dealing with right now,” said Cary Quashen, an addiction ...

Pentagon leaders warn debt default could endanger troops' pay

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

(The Hill) - The Pentagon’s top two officials on Thursday warned lawmakers that a default on the nation’s debt would put troops’ pay in danger and benefit China. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee that busting the debt ceiling would put U.S. reputation at “substantial risk” in the world. “There’s just a number of things that we're working with allies and partners on that would come into question as to whether or not we'll be able to execute programs, but most important, this will affect the livelihood of our of our troops and our civilians,” Austin told lawmakers. “We won't be able to pay people like we should, and I think that's something that China and everybody else can exploit.” Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Mark Milley, who spoke alongside Austin, said China already openly describes the United States as a declining power. Defaulting on the debt “will only reinforce that thought and embolden China and increase risk to ...

Dean's Reviews: 'Book Club: The Next Chapter' and 'Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

Check out Dean's reviews on the two films coming to theaters, the comedy film "Book Club: The Next Chapter" and "Still: A Michael J Fox. Movie," a movie that follows the life of Michael J. Fox.Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!

Dean's Weekender: Nick Lowe, MayFest and more

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

Check out Dean's Weekender for the latest events coming to the Chicagoland area this weekend.Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!

Stimulant used to treat ADHD remains in short supply as recent study finds more children are abusing it

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A recent study published in JAMA Network Open examined the prevalence of middle and high school students misusing drugs prescribed to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder or ADHD.It found as many as 1 in 4 students surveyed, used medication such as Adderall without being diagnosed with ADHD.The study’s lead author tells NBC News, “the findings should be a major wake-up call.”Dr. Gregory Mattingly treats many children with the condition.“ADHD is the most common neurologic condition in children, both here in the United States and all around the world. It's about 8 to 10% of kids in the United States meet criteria for what we call attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.As a psychiatrist and principal investigator in over 200 clinical trials focusing on ADHD, anxiety disorders, major depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, Dr. Mattingly said stimulants such as Adderall can help treat ADHD but the drug is short in supply. “It's been frustrating f...

City to hold ceremony to honor historic Austin park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Austin Parks and Recreation Department said a new Texas Historical Commission Marker will be unveiled at a downtown Austin park Friday morning. The ceremony begins at 10 a.m. at Wooldridge Square Park at 900 Guadalupe St, according to Parks and Rec. The department said in an April 28 release the historical marker "replaces an existing outdated marker and provides an expanded explanation of the park's historic significance."According to the Parks Department release, when Judge Edwin Waller platted the City of Austin in 1839, he designated four public squares in each quadrant of the city. Parks and Rec said only three of the original squares remained, and Wooldridge Square, in the northwest quadrant of downtown, was relatively unchanged and retains a high degree of historic integrity. For its first sixty years, Wooldridge Square was used by the public but remained "municipally undeveloped", according to Parks and Rec. By 1907, improvements were made to the park, a...