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What's happening with the Balboa Park Botanical Building?

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 12:12:01 GMT

SAN DIEGO – For Balboa Park visitors, it’s hard not to notice the construction going on at the Botanical Building.The building, which is one of the most photographed landmarks in San Diego County and is home to thousands of plants, has been stripped down to the bones, leaving just an outline of the garden’s iconic façade.So, visitors might be asking, what’s going on with the Botanical Building?The Botanical Building is currently in the midst of a major $21 million renovation project to revitalize the building and surrounding gardens, spearheaded by the City of San Diego and private partners organized by Forever Balboa Park.The garden, originally built in 1915 for the Panama-California Exposition, had over a century of weathering that caused the structure to severely deteriorate, according to the city – from warped wood and dry rot to structural decay to the steel underneath. How artists transformed the Spanish Village in Balboa Park Issues with the garden’s irrigation, plumbing an...

Point La Jolla could close year-round to keep sea lions, people safe

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 12:12:01 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- You can find many signs like advising visitors to stay away from sea lions along the concrete wall at Point La Jolla, but Robyn Davidoff, chair of the Sierra Club Seal Society, says many visitors ignore them.“We have taken pictures and videos of people approaching sea lions touching them, throwing rocks at them and it was just pretty horrific," said Davidoff. "Lots of time people put their kids right next to the sea lions to get that selfie and don’t realize that these are 800-pound wild animals.”They're wild animals that sometimes bite to protect their pups. Last year, in an effort to protect people and sea lions, the city introduced a six-month closure at point La Jolla from May 1 through Oct. 31 during sea lion pupping season. Their efforts were successful, so now they want to close point La Jolla year-round.Point La Jolla is the area between La Jolla Cove and Boomer Beach where sea lions go to rest and give birth. Only that area would close to keep visitors and sea ...

More rain has come back to San Diego: A quick look at precipitation totals

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 12:12:01 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- More rain has once again come to San Diego along with a low pressure system that moved into the area earlier this week, bringing with it colder temperatures and gusty winds.Initial forecasts from the National Weather Service anticipated a deep marine layer bringing a slight chance of rain in extremely light amounts to the county Wednesday night and into Thursday morning. NOAA issues El Niño watch: Here’s where and when we will feel the impact The precipitation is expected to decrease throughout Thursday, according to NWS, but is expected to continue into Friday morning. The gloomy weather with the low pressure system will push east Thursday into Friday morning, bringing back the warm weather into the weekend.While the amount of rain in the last few days has been miniscule compared to the series of storms that pummeled California earlier this year, the precipitation has been a little more of a consistent, widespread drizzle across the county.Here's a breakdown of tota...

Report: Thomas sold real estate to donor, didn’t report deal

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 12:12:01 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative mega-donor Harlan Crow purchased three properties belonging to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his family, in a transaction worth more than $100,000 that Thomas never reported, according to the non-profit investigative journalism organization ProPublica.The 2014 real estate deal shines a new light on Thomas’s decades old relationship with Crow, a real estate magnate and longtime financier for conservative causes. That relationship and the material benefits received by Thomas have fueled calls for an official ethics investigation.ProPublica previously revealed that Thomas and his wife Ginni were gifted with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of annual vacations and trips by Crow for decades — including international cruises on his mega-yacht, private jet flights and stays at Crow’s invitation-only resort in the Adirondacks. But the 2014 real estate deal is the first public evidence of a direct financial transaction between the ...

Texas county roiled by book ban considered closing libraries

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 12:12:01 GMT

Leaders in a rural Texas county held a special meeting Thursday but drew back from the drastic option of shutting their public library system rather than heeding a federal judge’s order to return books to the shelves on themes ranging from teen sexuality and gender to bigotry and race.Following public comments both for and against a possible shutdown, the Llano County Commissioners Court decided to remove consideration of a possible closure from the agenda, assuring its three libraries remain open. “We will try this in the courts, not through social media or through news media,” said Llano County Judge Ron Cunningham, who presides over the commissioners court and is one of the defendants in a lawsuit filed a year ago by library patrons. The struggle in Llano County, home to about 20,000 people in the Texas hill country outside of Austin, reflects an explosion of attempts in recent years to ban books around the U.S. amid escalating cultural wars.The special meeting was called a...

Canadian Screen Awards kick off first film gala in 4 years with ‘Brother’ in the lead

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 12:12:01 GMT

TORONTO — Canadian film stars gathered in person for the first time in four years at a Canadian Screen Awards gala Thursday evening, where Clement Virgo’s “Brother” was in the lead with 14 nominations. Virgo’s coming-of-age feature about two Jamaican-Canadian brothers was up for awards including best direction, best motion picture, and best-adapted Screenplay.The veteran filmmaker said he rushed to the awards ceremony after a day of working on a Netflix series called “The Madness” and was looking forward to celebrating with his cast and crew.“I ran — I ran from set, had a quick shower at a gym up the street, and ran down here,” he said on the red carpet before the show.Virgo said he was grateful for the honours and for the experience of working in Scarborough, an east-end Toronto neighbourhood, where the film is set.“As a filmmaker, as a writer, as an artist, hopefully (you) inspire the next generation of filmmakers … to te...

Newly active Texas sinkhole unearths forgotten fears in some

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 12:12:01 GMT

DAISETTA, Texas (AP) — When the massive sinkhole first appeared in Daisetta in May 2008, some residents had feared it might engulf their small Southeast Texas town.But after growing close to 600 feet (183 m) across and 75 feet (23 m) deep, it stabilized, swallowing up some oil tanks and several vehicles but sparing nearby homes. Some residents used humor to calm their fears, making “Sinkhole de Mayo” T-shirts, a reference to Cinco de Mayo. For others, the sinkhole, which eventually filled with water, became a new fishing spot.“It was just a pond after that, just a story that we told our kids. We just learned how to live with it,” Krystal Parrish, one of the approximately 1,000 residents who live in the town located about 60 miles (97 km) northeast of Houston, said Tuesday.But earlier this month, city officials announced the sinkhole had expanded after a long hibernation, renewing fears from some residents. Officials say there hasn’t been any significant expansion since the new growt...

A company is offering to help Diar DeRozan get to Bulls-Heat game

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 12:12:01 GMT

CHICAGO — Many are considering the daughter of a Chicago Bulls' All-Star to be one of the unsung heroes of the team's play-in tournament win in Toronto on Wednesday night. Now one Chicago-based company wants Diar DeRozan to continue to bring some support - and maybe a little noise during free throws - to the team's next play-in game in Miami on Friday.United Airlines replied to a tweet by the Bulls on Thursday offering to pay for the travel to South Florida for Diar to watch her father, DeMar, take on the Heat for the right to earn the eighth seed in the NBA Playoffs. "We need Diar in Miami! The flight's on us," said the tweet from the airline's official account. One of the storylines of the night was DeMar DeRozan's daughter, Diar, who was seen and heard screaming during Raptors free throws on the broadcast. . Toronto would shoot 18-of-36 from the line on the night, which hurt them badly in a loss to the Bulls Wednesday. .@WGNNews pic.twitter.com/Shlma1PsIG— Larry Hawley ...

Chicagoans blast Walmart's decision to close 4 stores with little notice

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 12:12:01 GMT

CHICAGO — With one single and abrupt announcement, the nation's largest retailer appears to have sunk four Chicago neighborhoods deeper into a food desert. Community activists gathered at 84th and Stewart in Chatham at the site of one of four Walmarts that is set to close, slamming the retailer's decision. "Everything I go into this store, it is packed with people," said Father Michael Pfleger.SEE ALSO| Walmart closing 4 locations in Chicago"This Walmart came here with the promise to be a partner in this community," said 21st Alderman-elect Ronnie Mosley.The stores in Kenwood, Lakeview, Little Village and the Chatham Supercenter with a health center and academy will cease operations on Sunday, April 16. "Since Walmart announced these closings, my office has been inundated with calls from seniors who are crying out, 'Where do I go for my medicine?' and with mothers asking, 'How do I feed my children?'" said Illinois Sen. Elgie R. Sims, Jr.Neighbors and a coalition of elected leaders...

Photo from tornado-ravaged Tennessee home travels over 100 miles

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 12:12:01 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — A family photo from a Tipton County, Tennessee home destroyed by a tornado last month was found about 120 miles away in Paris, Tennessee. The woman who found the picture of a man and woman and two small children had no idea how far the picture had traveled and posted it on Facebook to find the family.Amanda Morris is the infant sitting on her mother's lap (Courtesy: Amber Morris) Man killed, dozens injured after tornado hits Tipton County Amanda Morris, who was the baby in the photograph, said her mother saw the picture on Facebook after she was tagged by a friend and messaged the woman who found it. "It's a little weird seeing a picture of your family when you were little in the tornado," said Morris. "It's crazy because I live in Hickman, Kentucky but was at my mother's house in Newbern when the tornado hit."Morris said the picture taken back in 1979 was in her aunt and uncle's home near Covington when the tornado ripped through the area on March 31.The t...