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More people are traveling solo — and they’re in good company

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:25 GMT

If you’re contemplating a trip on your own, you might be in good company. Both men and women are traveling alone more, according to recent travel industry surveys and many resorts within easy driving distance of Denver are creating opportunities for these solo travelers.“We’ve really seen the all-inclusive wilderness properties be a big hit for solo travelers, particularly those that are newer to the outdoors,” said Krista Heinicke, director of public relations at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. “You have the comfort of Broadmoor lodging and its pampering staff, but can step outside of your comfort zone with new activities like horseback riding, fly fishing, hiking, mountain biking, and more with this built-in communal nature to the experience so you can engage with others if you desire — or stay solo with a book on the porch.”The growth in solo travel has been attributed to a post-pandemic desire to get out and see the world without waiting for the perfect mate to hit the road. ...

Powered by wind, this $10B transmission line will carry more energy than the Hoover Dam

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:25 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — An energy infrastructure project bigger than the Hoover Dam is how Hunter Armistead describes the $10 billion venture his company will be overseeing during the next three years. As the chief executive of one of the world’s largest wind and solar development companies, Armistead said breaking ground on Pattern Energy’s SunZia transmission line marks a major milestone as the United States looks to make good on promises to address climate change and bolster the nation’s already overwhelmed power grids as demand increases and weather events become more extreme.It is also a cautionary tale, he told The Associated Press in an interview ahead of Friday’s ceremony on the open plains of north-central New Mexico.The U.S. can’t afford to take 12 years to “create this type of solution” given the growing need for more energy infrastructure, Armistead said. He pointed to Europe and China, where billions of dollars are being invested in new hi...

Mississippi governor’s brother suggested that auditor praise Brett Favre during welfare scandal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:25 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — As Brett Favre became ensnared in media attention for his connection to Mississippi’s sprawling welfare scandal, Gov. Tate Reeves’ brother suggested the state official investigating the case praise the retired NFL quarterback. Screen shots of text messages released Thursday by Reeves’ re-election campaign show the governor’s brother, Todd Reeves, passing along a request from Favre to Mississippi State Auditor Shad White for a favorable statement about the retired star athlete. Todd Reeves texted White on May 6, 2020, months after the auditor announced in February that criminal charges were brought against six people accused of diverting welfare money intended for some of the poorest people in the nation to the rich and powerful. Favre has not been charged with a crime. But he has said the media “ unjustly smeared ” him in coverage of the scandal, including about payments he received to help fund his pet project — a volleyball arena at the univ...

Police search for suspect who shot and wounded person at Indiana shopping mall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:25 GMT

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — A person was shot and wounded Friday inside a shopping mall in northeastern Indiana following an altercation, and officers were searching for the suspect, police said. Officers were called about noon to Glenbrook Square Mall, where they found a male who had been struck in the leg by gunfire near a mall fountain, said Fort Wayne police spokesman Officer Daniel Nerzig.He said the wounded person was taken to a hospital in stable condition and officers were searching for the suspect in the shooting, which he said led to mall to close for the remainder of the day.“At this time we have a person of interest that we are seeking. However, we do not have all the details as to the why and how. All we know at this point is that there was some sort of altercation,” he told reporters outside the mall.Nerzig said the person who was shot has not been “as forthcoming with information as we would like him to be” and officers were reviewing surveillance video from inside ...

Medicines360’s long and winding, $82 million road to create and distribute $50 birth control

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:25 GMT

Drugs and medical devices rarely come from the nonprofit world. There are more than 2,600 for-profit pharmaceutical companies in the United States, but only three nonprofits have products on the American market.One of them is Medicines360, which in 2015 became the first nonprofit to introduce a medical device — an IUD. The genesis of the device came from an anonymous foundation that saw one of the most effective and reversible birth-control methods, the hormonal IUD, was too expensive for most women. Even insured women could be billed copays of up to $1,000.In 2008, the foundation (which Bloomberg reported was the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation) partnered with pharmaceutical scientist and MacArthur fellow Victoria Hale and decided to make a six-year, $82.2 million investment to develop a low-cost hormonal IUD through a nonprofit company.“The real goal of the donor and of Medicines360 was to provide this product to safety net clinics at a very, very affordable price,” said Medicin...

An explosion in Ecuador is seen as gangs asserting power after inmates take hostages and free some

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:25 GMT

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Criminal groups in Ecuador used explosives to damage a bridge in Ecuador on Friday, authorities said, demonstrating their grip on a South American country where prison inmates took dozens of law enforcement officers hostage less than two days earlier. Government officials described the violent acts as the response of criminal groups with a significant prison presence to inmate relocations, weapon seizures and other steps authorities took to try to regain control of several large correctional facilities.Four car bombs and three explosive devices went off across the country in less than 48 hours. The latest explosion with dynamite happened early Friday on a bridge linking two cities in the coastal province of El Oro, National Police commander Luis García told The Associated Press.Hours earlier, a domestic gas tank with wads of dynamite attached exploded under a different bridge in Napo province of Napo, located within Ecuador’s portion of the Amazon rainfor...

Bosnian Serbs stage protests in support of their separatist leader

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:25 GMT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Hundreds of Bosnian Serbs waved flags of Serbia and Russia and banners of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday as they staged a protest in support of their separatist leader who seeks union with neighboring Serbia. The protests were held at the unmarked internal border in Bosnia that separates the country into two entities — the Bosnian Serb Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat federation — as called for under the U.S.-mediated peace deal that ended the country’s 1992-95 war.The Serb protesters chanted slogans against Bosnia being a single state. They briefly blocked traffic between the two entities, but there were no major incidents reported.“We were always on the side of winners,” said Ljubisa Cosic, a Bosnia Serb official. “We were always on the side of freedom. So our connection to the Russian Federation and Russian people is great.”Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik, who has close ties to Putin, has openly been striving to separate ...

Two men wanted in theft of 4-month-old puppy from Rexdale home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:25 GMT

Police are searching for two suspects who stole a puppy during a robbery at a Rexdale home.Investigators were called to a home in the Islington Avenue and Elmhurst Drive area just before 4:30 p.m. on August 31 for reports of a break-and-enter.Police say the two male suspects made off with a 4-month-old beige Micro American Bulldog puppy as well as several pieces of jewelry.The first man was last seen wearing a grey Nike hooded sweater, grey track pants, white shoes, yellow/white gloves and a black face mask.The second man was last seen wearing a black hooded sweater, grey tack pants, black shoes, one white and one black glove and a black face mask.Both were last seen fleeing the area in a black, four-door Hyundai sedan.Photos of two men wanted in connection with the theft of a 4-month old puppy from a Rexdale home on August 31, 2023. TPS/HOPhoto of car used by suspects to flee scene of a break-and-enter in Rexdale on August 31, 2023. TPS/HO

Gasoline prices up from a year ago as drivers head into holiday weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:25 GMT

CALGARY — As crude oil prices hit a twelve-month high on Friday, Canadians planning to hit the road for the last long weekend of summer will pay more for gasoline than they did last Labour Day.The national average gasoline price as of Friday was $1.67 cents per litre, according to fuel price tracking website GasBuddy.com. That compares with $1.37 cents per litre on Sept. 1, 2022.Gasoline prices began to rise in July and August of this year, in part due to crude oil production cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia. Crude oil prices continued their rise this week, due to dwindling crude inventories in the U.S. as well as projections that Saudi Arabia will extend its supply cuts into October.  On Friday, the benchmark crude price West Texas Intermediate hit a 12-month high, trading above US$85 per barrel compared to about US$75 per barrel one year ago.Vijay Muralidharan, energy analyst and managing director with R Cube Consulting Inc., said driving demand through the summer months has been s...

Chicago Football Classic makes its return this weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:25 GMT

CHICAGO — After four years, a college football tradition in Chicago that also features many events off the field is ready to return.That happens this weekend, and the celebration was underway on Friday.The Chicago Football Classic will be played this Saturday at Soldier Field as Central State University will face Mississippi Valley State University at 3 p.m. You can watch the game on WGN-TV, Channel 9. Organizers are celebrating the 25 anniversary of the contest that features two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) as it returns for the first time since 2019. On Friday, organizers of the event along with a number of local politicians gathered for a kickoff celebration at Soldier Field. What the 2023 Chicago Football Classic means to those who created it Started in 1997 by Larry Huggins, Everett Rand and Tim Rand, it's an game that was created to bring more exposure to HBCUs in Chicago. While the showcase event is the football contest, there are numerous events tha...