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Did a tsunami really hit Florida? Yes, but not the kind you think

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:59 GMT

An unexpected culprit toppled beach chairs along the sand at normally calm Clearwater Beach, Florida, last Wednesday. West Coast surfers might snicker at the cause, but the National Weather Service confirms the rare 4-foot (1.2 meter) wave was caused by a kind of tsunami, just not the kind you usually hear about.It was a meteotsunami, a type caused by storms with strong gusting winds, rather than the dramatic tsunamis triggered by earthquakes.WHAT IS A METEOTSUNAMI?According to Paul Close, senior forecaster at the National Weather Service in the Tampa Bay area, when a line of storms tracks over the ocean, there can be 30- to 50-mph (48- 80-kph) winds near the leading edge. The winds push the water, increasing the wave height near the coast before it eventually crashes onto shore.Meteotsunamis only last about an hour because once the leading edge of the storm passes onto land, the action subsides. New recording shows Trump discussing ‘secret’ documents he did not declassify: report...

Patients on new Eli Lilly drug lost 24% of their weight in trials

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:59 GMT

(The Hill) -- A new Eli Lilly experimental drug has helped patients lose 24 percent of their weight, according to new mid-stage clinical trial results. The results, released on Monday, followed 338 adults, nearly 52 percent of whom were men, who were obese or overweight and had either received Eli Lilly’s retatrutide injection or a placebo treatment. Eli Lilly’s retatrutide is a weekly injection that changes the way patients eat, which leads to the patient having a decreased appetite by mimicking certain hormones in the gut, according to CNBC. Retatrutide is also comparable to Eli Lilly’s other obesity drug, Mounjaro. Mounjaro, which can also be used for Type 2 diabetes treatment, helped patients lose 21 percent of their body weight in a clinical trial, CNBC reported.   The phase two trial saw patients who took a 12-milligram dose of retatrutide lose 17.5 percent of their weight after 24 weeks, compared with patients who lost 1.6 percent of their b...

Four-bedroom home in Fremont sells for $1.5 million

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:59 GMT

2482 Archer Avenue – Google Street ViewA 1,494-square-foot house built in 1963 has changed hands. The property located in the 2400 block of Archer Avenue in Fremont was sold on May 11, 2023, for $1,500,000, or $1,004 per square foot. The property features four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a garage as well as two parking spaces. The unit sits on a 7,437-square-foot lot.Additional houses have recently changed hands nearby:A 2,032-square-foot home on the 37800 block of Bishop Court in Fremont sold in July 2022, for $1,900,000, a price per square foot of $935. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.On Bishop Court, Fremont, in January 2023, a 2,278-square-foot home was sold for $1,925,500, a price per square foot of $845. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.In June 2022, a 1,494-square-foot home on Davy Court in Fremont sold for $1,570,000, a price per square foot of $1,051. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. 

Man gets 41 years to life in 2006 slaying of estranged wife whose body was found along a California freeway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:59 GMT

A San Pedro man was sentenced Monday to more than 41 years to life for shooting his estranged wife to death and then dumping her body along the 710 Freeway in Long Beach nearly 17 years ago.Carl Dennis Mayes, 45, was convicted by a jury in April of second-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm in the shooting death of 20-year-old Tyquesha Myers of Las Vegas.Representing himself in Superior Court, Mayes requested a new trial and to delay sentencing, both of which were denied by Judge James D. Otto.After an emotionally charged hearing, loved ones of Myers said they were happy to see Mayes get the maximum sentence.Family members described Myers as loving and outgoing with a kind and giving heart. Her grandmother, Carolyn Thrower, showed the court photos and said she had a vibrant smile that could light up any room. In victim impact statements, they talked about injuries Mayes inflicted on Myers, including bruises and black eyes.Some said they hoped Myers’ memory wou...

Barabak: For Adam Schiff, censure is a gift from House Republicans

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:59 GMT

On Thursday, Rep. Adam B. Schiff turned 63. His birthday present arrived a day early, courtesy of vengeful House Republicans.Schiff was formally censured Wednesday for his role in holding to account the most immoral, self-centered, self-dealing, insurrectionist president in modern American history.The only thing missing was wrapping paper, a shiny red bow and a greeting card dotted with Xs and O‘s.Former President Trump has described Schiff as “shifty,” “sick” and “corrupt.” He has also made the congressman what he is today: a political household name and prosecutorial hero to millions of Democrats nationwide.The rebuke from the House GOP boosted Schiff’s political stock even further, edging the Burbank Democrat closer to his goal of besting a handful of party rivals and succeeding Dianne Feinstein as the next U.S. senator from California.“I would call it an advertisement for Adam Schiff,” Bob Shrum, a veteran Democratic strategist who teaches political science at USC, said followin...

California police ID bones found in 2001 — answering Tennessee family’s 4 decades of questions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:59 GMT

Antonio “Tony” Johnson was 5 years old when his mother left. Again.But the boy, now a man in his late 40s, was likely too young to remember when his Mom, Catherine Parker-Johnson, initially left Memphis, Tennessee, four years earlier, eventually making her way out west to Southern California.That first departure, however, was followed by phone calls and letters – and an eventual return.On May 13, 1981, a day before Tony Johnson’s big sister, Rebecca, turned 8, their mother showed up on their doorstep.But the reunion was short-lived.Despite pleas for her to stay, Parker-Johnson continued her wayward existence. She left again – and would never return.The letters and phone calls also stopped. Eventually, a sense of abandonment set in among her children, Tony Johnson said. It was as if they were unwanted.But the truth is more tragic: Their mother was dead.She was likely murdered.Her corpse – or most of it, anyway – was buried in the backyard of a Redondo Beach house, where it remained u...

Ducks goalie coach Sudarshan Maharaj diagnosed with pancreatic cancer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:59 GMT

Sudarshan “Sudsie” Maharaj, the Ducks’ long-time and well-respected goaltending coach, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the team announced on Monday.Maharaj, 59, received the diagnosis after the conclusion of the Ducks’ regular season and has been receiving treatment and is scheduled eventually to have surgery. Following surgery, the team said that Maharaj “anticipates returning to his role with the Ducks.”The Ducks will be bringing on an assistant goaltending coach while Maharaj continues his treatment and recovery, a hire to be made by General Manager Pat Verbeek and Maharaj.“While this has been a very difficult time, I have had amazing support from my family and the Ducks organization, especially owners Henry and Susan Samueli,” Maharaj said in a statement released by the team. “A special thanks also to Jillian Samueli for her amazing support and friendship.“I plan on fighting this disease vigorously with the help of my tremendous doctors both in Toronto and with the Du...

Can homebuilding save the US economy?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:59 GMT

By Augusta Saraiva | BloombergAfter eight straight quarters of contraction, it looks like the slide in US residential investment may be finished. The nascent rebound now underway is set to remove a major obstacle to ongoing economic expansion.With new construction activity at the highest level in more than a year, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s GDPNow tracker is projecting residential investment added 0.1% to growth in gross domestic product in the second quarter. Though it may not sound like much, that would mark the first positive contribution since early 2021.The new-home market has been slowly coming out of the woods as falling materials costs and vanishing logistics constraints have allowed builders to work their way through pandemic-era backlogs. Limited availability in the resale market is also pushing many prospective buyers toward new construction, helping support demand even as mortgage rates remain elevated.“Construction was at the center of the storm for the surge...

California tourist’s video of man defacing the Colosseum in Rome makes international news

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:59 GMT

Ryan Lutz was so appalled at the sight he stumbled upon while strolling around the famed Colosseum in Rome, the tourist from Orange started filming with his phone.The footage shows a person appearing to etch names into the nearly 2,000-year-old bricks of the ancient amphitheater, defacing one of the most famous landmarks in the world – one that draws millions of visitors each year.The video of the June 23 incident has made international news, drawing heavy criticism for the apparent act of vandalism. Italy’s culture minister, Gennaro Sangiuliano, has called for the person to be “identified and sanctioned.”“I consider it very serious, unworthy and a sign of great incivility that a tourist defaces one of the most famous places in the world, a historical heritage (site) such as the Colosseum, to carve the name of his fiancée,” Sangiuliano tweeted on Monday, June 26. “I hope that whoever carried out this act will be identified and sanctioned according to our laws.”Lutz, reached by phone...

Opinion: Lincoln’s ‘house divided’ thoughts speak to current discord

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:59 GMT

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” So said Abraham Lincoln in his “House Divided” speech, given 165 years. Many describe contemporary America in the same terms. We’re a house divided against itself and in danger of collapse. We see dire prognostics about America’s future due to an array of differences — religious, racial and economic, to name a few. Assessing the accuracy of these dark prophesies requires understanding Lincoln’s words and the state of America’s division today.When Lincoln used the phrase “a house divided,” he did not intend to equate it with all distinction and disagreement. Our political principles and structures presuppose that we won’t all hold the exact same principles or draw the exact same conclusions. While defending the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, in Federalist No. 10 argue that people’s different circumstances, fallible reason and selfish passions always birth disagreement. A polity could achieve full conformity...