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Botanical Building moves into next construction phase

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:43 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Renovations to the Balboa Park Botanical Building have been moved into the next part of construction, City of San Diego officials announced last week."Visitors to Balboa Park can expect to see different segments of the building covered like this for at least several months as crews work to bring the iconic building back to its original 1915 look," city officials wrote on social media.In this phase, crews will be sandblasting the steel structure of the building, as well as applying a protective coating and paint. The tent-like cover helps to protect visitors from any debris that might leave the construction zone during this work, according to the city.The outside of the Botanical Building as it moves into the next part of construction work. (Courtesy of the City of San Diego)The building, which is one of the most photographed landmarks in San Diego County, is currently in the midst of a major $21 million renovation project to revitalize the building and the surrounding g...

Police seek suspect in Toronto rental scam

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:43 GMT

Toronto police are trying to track down a man who allegedly defrauded several people in an apartment rental scam.Police say Cem Devrim Turetken, 49, advertised apartments for rent in Toronto on various websites.But investigators say he didn’t own the properties and wasn’t authorized to rent them out.The alleged scam took place between November 2022 and February 2023.Investigators say the suspect used a variety of different aliases and company names online, including Smart Rental Property Management Inc. located in Sudbury and GTA Rentals.Police are asking the public to consider the following when searching for apartment rentals:research the property in persondouble check the address to ensure it isn’t being listed elsewherenever pay with cash, wire transfer or hard-to-trace equivalents, such as MoneyGram or bitcoinbe aware of “too good to be true” rent ratesdo not give a rent or security deposit before signing a leasespeak to Building Property Management and ...

Judge: 29-year-old who posed as teen student because she was lonely can enter pretrial program

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:43 GMT

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — A 29-year-old woman accused of using false documents to enroll as a New Jersey high school student and attend some classes over a four-day period will be allowed to enter a pretrial intervention program, a state judge ruled Monday.The woman had pleaded not guilty in March to a charge of providing a false government document. Her lawyer has said she did so because she was lonely and longed to return to her days with friends in school but now realizes she made a mistake. She will have to undergo a mental health evaluation and, if she completes the program, the charge against her could eventually be dismissed.The woman is a South Korean citizen who came to the United States by herself when she was 16 to attend a private boarding school, the lawyer said. She later graduated from Rutgers University in 2019.The lawyer said his client had no nefarious intentions when she enrolled at New Brunswick High School in January. She was just seeking to return to “a place ...

English scrap metal recycler sentenced to 9 months in jail for wall collapse that killed 5

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:43 GMT

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — The owner and a manager of an English scrap metal recycling plant were sentenced to nine months in jail Monday for safety lapses after a wall collapsed and killed five migrant workers in 2016, a government workplace safety agency said. Wayne Hawkeswood and Graham Woodhouse were convicted in Birmingham Crown Court of violating the Health and Safety at Work Act, the Health and Safety Executive said.The workers died instantly when the 50-ton (45-metric tonne) wall toppled onto them at the start of their shift at Hawkeswood Metal Recycling on July 7, 2016. They had to be identified by their fingerprints.A breath of wind could have knocked over the wall, the court was told. Investigators found other unstable walls at the site, as well as inadequate training and poor safety records. “Five men lost their lives in the most appalling of circumstances,” inspector Amy Kalay said after the sentencing. “Their deaths should not have happened. They went to work to earn a...

Debt ceiling: McCarthy says ‘no progress’ ahead of talks Tuesday with Biden

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:43 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Monday there’s been “no progress” on debt ceiling talks ahead of a meeting with President Joe Biden and other congressional leaders scheduled for Tuesday at the White House, as the country pushes closer to a crisis over the need to raise its legal borrowing limit.“It’s very concerning to me,” McCarthy, the Republican speaker, told reporters as he opened the House chamber.“There’s no progress that I see,” he said of the staff-level talks that extended through the weekend. “And it really concerns me with the timeline of where we are.”McCarthy confirmed that he and the other congressional leaders are heading back to the White House on Tuesday to meet with Biden. The meeting was initially supposed to be Friday, but was abruptly postponed so staff-level talks could continue through the weekend. Time is narrowing as Biden prepares to depart for the Group of Seven summit in Japan on Wednesday. The standoff comes as the Treasur...

Ghana’s Mahama to run for president again after winning opposition’s ticket

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:43 GMT

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Former Ghanian President John Mahama, who has received the main opposition party’s nomination to run for president next year, said Monday that he thinks the current administration has failed citizens of the West African nation.A day after clinching the National Democratic Congress (NDC) ticket in the party’s presidential primary, Mahama accused the administration of incumbent President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of misusing public funds and mismanaging the economy.“The current government has blatantly mismanaged the country’s economy, and we cannot allow them to hold the country’s development in reverse gear,” the ex-president said during his acceptance speech in northern Ghana’s Tamale city. “Corruption and raid on the public purse have reached a crescendo,” Results announced Sunday from the primary showed Mahama received 99% of votes cast by about 335,000 delegates to beat Kojo Bonsu, a former mayor of Kumasi. The outcome shows he still enjoy...

Buona giving away free sandwiches for National Italian Beef Day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:43 GMT

CHICAGO — Longtime Italian beef chain Buona is giving away free sandwiches to celebrate National Italian Beef Day.The giveaway takes place on May 27, which is National Italian Beef Day.Anyone interested on receiving a free beef, with up to one topping, will need to download the company's "MyBuona" app. Existing users will already get a free sandwich in their reward section. The company is also offering their plant-based beefless sandwich as well. Top 5 Italian beef sandwiches in Chicago area — according to Chicagoans There is a limit to one free sandwich per user.To also celebrate, from May 22 through May 29 — Buona is offering free delivery through the app and 25% off nationwide shipping products online with the code "BuonaDay."

Five years after his Obama portrait, Kehinde Wiley is taking his art everywhere all at once

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:43 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Kehinde Wiley was already well into his influential art career when his portrait of Barack Obama — arms crossed, perched on a chair amid brilliant foliage — was unveiled in 2018. But there’s no doubt it changed the artist's life.Here’s one way he describes the shift: Now, should he ever show up at the bank and realize he’s forgotten his ID — which hasn’t happened yet, but still — he could say: “You know that portrait of Obama? I’m that guy, and I didn’t bring my ID, so if you could just Google that…”But Wiley, proud as he is of the groundbreaking work — an official portrait of a Black president by a Black artist — does wonder how long he'll be referred to in that context.“I wonder if I will ever be able to do anything that lives up to the gravity of that moment,” he says. “Everybody wants to be seen in a number of different contexts ... but I mean, what a great project to be involved in. So, come on, here’s the world’s smallest violin, playing just for me.”If Wiley, ...

Bears add two big names to OTA coaching staff

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:43 GMT

LAKE FOREST — The Bears will have two people added to their coaching staff who will be recognizable to both college and NFL football fans. But they will only be with the staff for a short time. The Bears have announced that Eddie George and Randy Shannon are joining the the team’s coach staff for OTA workouts as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship. .George, the head coach at Tennessee St., will be with the team for 2 weeks..@WGNNews pic.twitter.com/LUXfZL8YLW— Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) May 15, 2023On Monday, the Bears announced that Eddie George and Randy Shannon are joining the staff during OTA workouts this spring as part of the NFL's Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship. Shannon, who is currently the linebackers coach/co-defensive coordinator for Florida State, will be on the staff for the entire OTA period. George, who is the head coach at Tennessee State University, will be on the staff for two weeks. It's being done as part of the fellowship that ...

'Epic!': Martha Stewart is a Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model at 81

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:43 GMT

(WJW) - "When we said this year was going to be epic, we meant it."That's what Sports Illustrated is saying about its 2023 swimsuit cover models.The magazine announced on Monday that this year's issue "celebrates 28 incredible women." The cover models include Martha Stewart, Megan Fox, Kim Petras and Brooks Nader. Each will be featured in one of four 2023 covers. Lizzo lives best life in Cleveland, eats La Plaza tacos Perhaps the already most talked-about name on the list: 81-year-old Martha Stewart.Sports Illustrated says Stewart will be the oldest cover model in the publication’s history.LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 14: TV personality Martha Stewart attends The Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber at Sony Pictures Studios on March 14, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images)MIAMI BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 27: Martha Stewart attends a Tribute Dinner Honoring Jonathan Waxman, Rob Sands and Richard Sands With Master Of Ceremonies Tom Colicchio Presen...