How are increasing temperatures putting vegetation at a higher risk of wildfires

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 15 NEW YORK (AP) — People with hearing loss have a new ally in their efforts to navigate the world: Captions that aren’t limited to their television screens and streaming services. The COVID pandemic disrupted daily life for people everywhere, but many of those with hearing loss took the resulting isolation especially hard. “When everyone wears a mask they are completely unintelligible to me,” said Pat Olken of Sharon, Massachusetts, whose hearing aids were insufficient. (A new cochlear implant has helped her a lot.) So when her grandson’s bar mitzvah was streamed on Zoom early in the pandemic, well before the service offered captions, Olken turned to Otter, an app created to transcribe business meetings. Reading along with the ceremony’s speakers made the app “a tremendous resource,” she said. People with … [Read more...] about Why captions are suddenly everywhere and how they got there

Charlie Dent is a former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania who served as chair of the House Ethics Committee from 2015 until 2017 and chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies from 2015 until 2018. He is a CNN political commentator. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN. (CNN) During my first term in Congress (2005-2006), I vividly recall a surge in gasoline prices . Democrats blasted then President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, demonizing them for their prior work in fossil fuels and the energy sector. The Democrats contended these two oilmen led an administration too friendly to the oil and gas industry and initiated a war of choice in Iraq to serve those interests. Predictably, there were calls for suspending the 18.4-cent- per gallon federal gasoline tax. Charlie Dent It was a terrible idea then just as it is … [Read more...] about Opinion: Biden wants a gas tax holiday. Here are a few better ideas

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom called out Republicans on Tuesday for inaction on the issue of gun control, saying the party “won’t do a damn thing” in a series of tweets hours after a shooting at a Texas elementary school that left at least 19 children and two adults dead. “Who the hell are we if we cannot keep our kids safe,” Newsom wrote. “This is preventable. Our inaction is a choice. We need nationwide, comprehensive, commonsense gun safety now.” The Democratic governor also reposted a tweet from the National Rifle Assn. that promoted former President Trump as a featured speaker at its conference in Houston on Friday, marking his sixth time speaking at the annual gathering. Newsom’s dispatches, which were quickly retweeted thousands of times, were among a sea of calls on the social media platform for stronger gun control legislation in the U.S. in the wake of the deadly shooting in Uvalde, Texas, a small town about 80 miles west of San Antonio. … [Read more...] about Newsom castigates GOP over gun policy after Texas school shooting: ‘Inaction is a choice’

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A Philadelphia firefighter killed in the line of duty will be laid to rest on Monday. On Sunday, hundreds gathered to pay their respects to Lt. Sean Williamson . You can watch the procession and funeral streaming on CBS News Philly and in the player above starting at 8:30 a.m. Williamson served the city as a firefighter for 27 years. He was also a U.S. Marine and a family man. On Monday, all who knew him will get the chance to mourn and remember him. READ MORE: Wildfire At Brendan T. Byrne State Forest Burns More Than 300 Acres A viewing for Williamson was held in South Philadelphia on Sunday night . Family, friends, and fellow first responders gathered to pay their respects and salute their fallen firefighter for the final time. Williamson was killed in the line of duty last weekend after rushing to put out a fire at a pizza shop in the city’s Fairhill section . The burned building collapsed on top of him about an hour later. … [Read more...] about WATCH LIVE: Viewing, Funeral Services To Be Held For Philadelphia Firefighter Lt. Sean Williamson

Rita Chatterton (center) said Vince McMahon told her that if she “wanted a half-a-million-dollar-a-year contract,” she would have “to satisfy him.” Photo: Courtesy the International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame On August 28, 2021, Rita Chatterton, a sandy-haired 64-year-old woman, stood at a podium in Albany to receive a “Trailblazer Award” from the International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame was the brainchild of a wrestling fan named Seth Turner, who wanted to honor Chatterton for being the World Wrestling Federation’s first female referee. “Seth calls me and says, ‘Rita, I need you to do the Hall of Fame with me,’” Chatterton recalls. At first she refused; she didn’t want to revisit her time with the WWF, now known as WWE. But Turner finally convinced her, and she was ultimately glad she did it. “I always said I don’t want to live and die and be forgotten,” she told him. Chatterton has been forgotten before. In 1992, she came forward publicly … [Read more...] about She Was WWE’s First Female Referee. She Says Vince McMahon Raped Her.

0 Politics & Government Manhattan School District 114 will ask voters June 28 whether they approve of the district issuing bonds up to $85 million for the project. TJ Kremer III , Patch Staff Posted Reply MANHATTAN, IL — Manhattan residents will be asked to vote on a proposed referendum for Manhattan School District 114 when they go to the polls for the June 28 primary election. The referendum in questions asks Manhattan residents: Shall the Board of Education of Manhattan School District Number 114, Will County, Illinois, improve the site of and build and equip a new school building and issue bonds of said School District to the amount of $85,000,000 for the purpose of paying the costs thereof? Manhattan SD114 currently has three schools: Anna McDonald School, Wilson Creek School and Manhattan Junior High. The proposed fourth school would house junior high students, as well as allow for projected future growth, … [Read more...] about Manhattan Referendum To Build 4th School: IL Primary 2022

(CNN) — Top Biden administration officials will be dispatched across the country this week to reassure Americans that combating inflation remains a top priority for the White House as prices soar and economic concerns mount, a White House official tells CNN. The travel blitz by Cabinet members and senior officials comes as President Joe Biden meets with world leaders at the G7 and NATO summits in Germany and Spain , where leaders are discussing, among other things, rising costs that have been driven in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. One White House official said the travel is designed to highlight how “Biden’s leadership on the world stage is centered around delivering for the American middle class.” READ MORE: Maryland Weather: Muggy & Cloudy With Showers Later The officials are expected to tout the bipartisan infrastructure law and outline steps the President has taken to try to bring down costs, even as Biden himself has acknowledged … [Read more...] about Top Biden Officials Plan U.S. Travel Blitz To Discuss Combatting Inflation

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Care for a hint of crab in your whiskey? A New Hampshire distillery has come up with its newest concoction called “Crab Trapper" — whiskey flavored with invasive green crabs. Tamworth Distilling, a maker of craft spirits, is not afraid of pushing boundaries with unexpected flavors. In the past, the distillery produced a whiskey with the secretion from beavers' castor sacs. Last year, it was turkey over the holidays and before that the notoriously pungent smell of durian. The company said the body of this peculiar brew has hints of maple, vanilla oak, clove, cinnamon and allspice. And no, you won't get any crab legs in the drink. WHY DID THE COMPANY CHOOSE GREEN CRABS? Searching for a fresh flavor, Tamworth Distilling cast its eye to the sea. Distiller Matt Power said the company heard about the problems caused by the invasive green crabs from the … [Read more...] about From under to on the rocks: Invasive crabs become whiskey