Heat waves in california

In the first 24 days of the new year, a total of five police officers across three states have been killed in the line of duty as a crime wave continues sweeping the United States. Officer Fernando Arroyos had served three years with the Los Angeles Police Department in California when, on January 10, he was allegedly robbed at gunpoint by members of the F-13 Gang. At the time of the robbery, Arroyos and his girlfriend were looking at a home for sale when the gang members confronted them. Arroyos, while getting his girlfriend to safety, was shot at by the gang members. Arroyos returned fire but had been wounded. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died from his injuries. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged 29-year-old Luis Alfredo De La Rosa Rios, 22-year-old Ernesto Cisneros, 34-year-old Jesse Contreras — all of whom are F-13 Gang members — as well as 18-year-old Haylee Marie Grisham, Rios’s girlfriend, with violating racketeering laws. Meanwhile, in New … [Read more...] about Crime Wave: Five Police Officers Killed in First 24 Days of 2022

Most New York City construction projects will have to use power sources other than gas or oil in a few years after the City Council passed new legislation Wednesday restricting the use of natural gas, pending Mayor Bill de Blasio 's expected signature, CNBC reported . Once signed, the measure will enact for the country's most populous city a climate-change policy that is both encouraged and decried across the U.S. The legislation will require most construction projects submitted for approval after 2027 to forgo natural gas in favor of electricity or other more climate-friendly sources for heating, hot water and cooking. Some smaller buildings may be subject to the restriction as early as 2024. Hospitals, commercial kitchens and some other types of facilities will not be required to follow the rule. The heating, cooling and powering of buildings in the sizable city accounts for almost 70 percent of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gas emissions. A transition from … [Read more...] about NYC to prohibit new buildings from using natural gas in fight against climate change

The Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) in the SF Bay Area where we live, announced on Tuesday that it was planning on "transitioning all students and staff" to KN95 respirators. If worn properly, such respirators filter 95 percent of particles the size of those that carry the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The BUSD has proposed this measure as a means to slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep schools open. These respirators would be required for the entire school day, including outdoors during gym and recess. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of respirators is vastly overestimated, and there is scant evidence that they stop community transmission. Moreover, NIOSH-approved respirators are tight, uncomfortable, and can impede breathing. OSHA requires both fit testing and a medical evaluation before workers can wear them. We've all seen images of health care workers with bruised faces from properly worn respirators. The truth is, the burdens of these masks outweigh their benefits for kids. … [Read more...] about We’re a physician and mathematician and a data scientist. N95s won’t work for kids | Opinion

Updated | Many turn to e-cigarettes to help themselves wean off nicotine by moving to lower and lower doses, or as a "safer alternative" to tobacco. However, a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found puffing just one e-cigarette with nicotine can damage the heart in nonsmokers. A team of researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, looked at 33 healthy nonsmokers who came to the lab on three different days separated by at least four weeks for three different e-cigarette exposures in random order to determine its effect on the adrenaline levels in the heart. The participants were asked to puff an e-cigarette with nicotine one day, an e-cigarette without nicotine (same flavoring and solvents) another day, and puff on an empty e-cigarette as a control. Dr. Holly R. Middlekauff, senior study author and a cardiologist at UCLA, and her colleagues found participants developed a pattern of abnormal "heart rate variability" (HRV), which is … [Read more...] about E-cigarettes can damage your heart with just one puff

In October, we invited students to submit short, powerful stories about meaningful life experiences for our second annual personal narrative writing contest . Three months, 60 judges and nearly 9,000 entries later, we have selected seven winners, as well as 130 additional finalists, that stood out for their superb storytelling, moving messages and artistic use of language. These 600-word essays offer us a peek into the lives of teenagers and the moments that have shaped them: a meal from a mother’s home country; a father’s terminal illness; a sexual assault; an unexpected first love. And while these essays struck us because of their uniqueness, underneath they were stories that almost anyone, anywhere could relate to — stories about family and belonging, about claiming one’s identity, about seeing the world (and oneself) anew, about cherishing life in the face of death. Below, we are publishing the seven winning narratives in full. We hope that, like our judges, you’ll admire … [Read more...] about The Winners of Our 2nd Annual Personal Narrative Contest

The Colleyville synagogue hostage-taking was a nightmare, a vicious, antisemitic attack on a vulnerable Jewish community. It is tempting to obsess on the antisemitism, to see it as the great, sole evil. But if we want change, we must recognize that Colleyville was about more. Especially since the 2018 shooting that killed 11 people and injured more at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life, synagogues and other Jewish institutions have been ratcheting up their security. Guards, often armed, are commonplace, as are bulletproof glass, “buzz-in” entry systems and strategically placed panic buttons. This is a consequence of a rise in antisemitism. We’re scared. A 2020 Pew Study found that most American Jews think there is more antisemitism today than there was five years ago. More than half of those surveyed say that, as a Jew, they personally feel less safe than they did five years ago. Opinion Op-Ed: The Texas hostage-taking was a symptom of conspiracy theories run amok … [Read more...] about Op-Ed: Attacks like the one in Colleyville are about more than antisemitism

A woman went viral after sharing a "creepy encounter" with her neighbor while on a walk with her dog. In the post titled "AITA for 'threatening' my new neighbors with my dog?" the anonymous Reddit user, who goes only by u/mydoghatesyou917, said her male neighbor was acting strangely before attempting to grab her dog's leash during a walk. The post in the "Am I The A**hole" forum received more than 11,500 votes and 1,300 comments in less than 24 hours. In the post, the Redditor, 28, explained that she recently moved into a suburban neighborhood. She said it was just her and her dog Oaken, a Dutch Shepherd that was trained as a Personal Protection Dog (PPD). Personal Protection Dogs are highly trained and capable of perceiving threats and protecting the owner, family, or home. These dogs are often trained at tracking and protection work and are responsive to their handler, according to California attorney Kenneth M. Phillips. Dutch Shepherds are known as one of the best … [Read more...] about Internet backs woman whose neighbor felt “threatened” by dog during “creepy” encounter

As nurses and doctors struggle with a record-breaking wave of Omicron cases, evolutionary biologists are engaged in a struggle of their own: figuring out how this world-dominating variant came to be. When the Omicron variant took off in southern Africa in November, scientists were taken aback by its genetic makeup. Whereas earlier variants had differed from the original Wuhan version of the coronavirus by a dozen or two mutations, Omicron had 53 — a shockingly large jump in viral evolution. In a study posted online last week, an international team of scientists further deepened the mystery. They found that 13 of those mutations were rarely, if ever, found in other coronaviruses, suggesting they should have been harmful to Omicron. Instead, when acting in concert, these mutations appear to be key to some of Omicron’s most essential functions. Now the researchers are trying to figure out how Omicron defied the normal rules of evolution and used these mutations to become such a … [Read more...] about Omicron’s Radical Evolution

JACKSONVILLE, Florida — A bipartisan group of 55 Florida sheriffs endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in his Senate reelection campaign for governor on Monday. Speaking from the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront and flanked by several law enforcement officers, Rubio drew a sharp distinction between himself and his potential Democrat challenger Rep. Val Demings (D-FL), who served as the chief of the Orlando Police Department from 2007-2011, serving in law enforcement for 27 years. “I’m a lawmaker, which means we pass laws. But then someone has to go out and enforce these laws. Someone has to go out and be the face of these laws and make them apply to the real world,” he began, pointing to the irony of his Democrat colleagues who pass these laws “then go home and criticize the people trying to enforce the laws they pass,” thereby injecting what the senator dubbed the “spirit of lawlessness” into society. Marco Rubio Campaign Rubio pointed to the massive crime wave, as … [Read more...] about 55 Florida Sheriffs Endorse Marco Rubio’s Senate Reelection Bid

The White House is still embracing controversial comedian Bill Maher, despite growing pressure to sever ties with the woman-insulting liberal TV host. President Barack Obama ’s chief political adviser, David Axelrod, is still booked to appear on Maher’s cable show in the next few weeks. White House spokesman Jay Carney waved away growing criticism today, saying “we cannot be the arbitrator of every statement that anybody makes in the policy and political arenas.” Carney’s equivocation came after he was was asked about the administration’s continued affiliation with Maher, despite the president’s front-page criticism of radio talker Rush Limbaugh for his sex-related insults of a Democratic activist. The Democrats’ pushback against Limbaugh is designed to spur women’s support for Obama in November. In contrast to Obama, Carney and Axelrod, Democrats in Alabama are downplaying a planned fundraiser that was scheduled to take place just prior to a Maher comedy show in … [Read more...] about Obama embraces Bill Maher, but Alabama Democrats hide link