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Steps from TIFF, striking actors, writers rally at Canadian offices for Apple, Amazon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:14 GMT

TORONTO — Film and TV star Patricia Arquette joined dozens of actors and writers who rallied outside the Canadian headquarters of Amazon and Apple to support ongoing labour protests.Members of Canadian and U.S. performers unions gathered just blocks from marquee venues hosting the Toronto International Film Festival to call for job protections and better compensation.Aside from directors and producers, TIFF premieres have been largely devoid of Hollywood A-listers as strike rules prevent unionized actors from promoting projects, although some independent productions have been allowed to court publicity.The Alliance of Canadian Cinema Television Radio Artists (ACTRA), the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America are each embroiled in contract woes.Protesters held picket signs declaring, “Respect the performers,” while SAG’s chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said global support is esse...

Stonehenge II: What's up with this wacky Texas attraction?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:14 GMT

INGRAM, Texas (NEXSTAR) — It's the sequel you didn't know Texas created. The Lone Star State's Hill Country may be a long way away from the mysterious Stonehenge monument in England, central Texas' Stonehenge II site isn't without mysteries of its own.The main mystery: What the heck is Stonehenge II and where did it come from? And what does Easter Island have to do with any of it? Why are Nature Valley granola bars so messy? The attraction, located in Ingram, is owned and maintained by the Hill Country Arts Foundation, which explains that the site was created by retired Dallas hotel owner Al Shepperd and his neighbor Doug Hill over 20 years ago. The idea came to Shepperd after he found a mass of limestone leftover from a patio project near the Guadalup River, Dallas Morning News reported in 2010. It took Shepperd and Hill nine months to build, the foundation says.Stonehenge II was moved from Shepperd's property in Hunt — about 7 miles from Ingram — in 2010, many years after Sheppe...

Powerful earthquake in Morocco kills more than 1,300 people, damages historic buildings in Marrakech

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:14 GMT

MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) — A rare, powerful earthquake struck Morocco, sending people racing from their beds into the streets and toppling buildings in mountainous villages and ancient cities not built to withstand such force. More than 1,300 people were killed, and the toll was expected to rise as rescuers struggled Saturday to reach hard-hit remote areas.The magnitude-6.8 quake, the biggest to hit the North African country in 120 years, sent people fleeing their homes in terror and disbelief late Friday. One man said dishes and wall hangings began raining down, and people were knocked off their feet. The quake brought down walls made from stone and masonry, covering whole communities with rubble.The devastation gripped each town along the High Atlas’ steep and winding switchbacks in similar ways: homes folding in on themselves and mothers and fathers crying as boys and helmet-clad police carried the dead through the streets.Remote villages like those in the drought-stricken Ouargan...

Police locate 72-year-old man missing from Austin neighborhood

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:14 GMT

CHICAGO — A man missing from the city's Austin neighborhood has been safely located, according to Chicago police.

$2M in funding coming to Austin-based National Domestic Violence Hotline

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:14 GMT

If you or someone you know needs support, the 24/7 SAFEline is available by phone at 512.267.SAFE (7233), by text at 737-888-7233, or by online chat at safeaustin.org/chat.AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Thursday, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, announced the Austin-based National Domestic Violence Hotline would receive $2 million to expand its crisis intervention services.The funds would help to expand direct services staff, enhance training and data collection, collaborate with field experts and organizations who work with underserved communities, and implement a comprehensive public awareness campaign, according to Cornyn’s office.According to a release, the funding comes from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs and Office for Victims of Crime through Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) assistance funds.“The National Domestic Violence Hotline is a critical service that has helped millions of survivors navigate dangerous situations and take steps toward a sa...

CU Buffs vs. Nebraska quick hits: Fire up the Shedeur Sanders hype machine. This guy’s the real deal.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:14 GMT

Initial observations from the CU Buffs’ 36-14 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in head coach Deion Sanders’ home debut at Folsom Field.Bright and early: Over/under on hours of sleep for the CU student section? We’re putting that at roughly 0.5 hours — and taking the under. Hundreds swarmed the bleachers the first moment they could at 8 a.m., and they were … in … a … lather. Nebraska got a dose of it as soon as the Huskers stepped foot on the field to huddle on the Buffs’ logo — the jeers starting before most folks on the Front Range had even finished their morning coffee. As for that Big Red invasion? That’s so 2019. An unofficial count from these eyes: 70-30 in the Buffs’ favor. And anyone who was here four years ago knows that’s quite the swing.Sloppy, sloppy: It took the Buffs approximately a quarter and a half before they drew their first penalty in last weekend’s upset at TCU. On Saturday? They had t...

'It makes no sense': Florida mom finds twins suffocated in toy chest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:14 GMT

A mom from Jacksonville, Florida is mourning after discovering her twins suffocated in a toy chest on Aug. 25.The mother, Sadie Myers, wrote in a Facebook post that her four-year-old twins, Aurora and Kellan Starr, went to play in the middle of the night and fell asleep inside their toy chest. Myers said that at some point while the twins were asleep, one of them must have moved or kicked the lid closed. COVID outbreak forces cancellation of high school football game The old wooden cedar toy chest is airtight when shut, and soundproof. Myers wrote that the twins slowly lost oxygen as their arms were wrapped around each other, snuggling. After Myers and her husband Don Starr, and their two older boys woke up, they checked the twins' room and immediately panicked.After searching the home and up the street, one of the boys found the twins in the toy chest.“Mommy I found them! They are so silly just sleeping in the toy box”, he had said.Upon discovering them, Myers wrote that she kne...

Pac-12 chaos: Legal filings could bring board action to a halt, but answers needed on employee retention plan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:14 GMT

As if the looming departure of 10 schools and a mounting list of legal disputes weren’t problematic enough, the Pac-12 is facing a steep operational challenge.At stake: approximately $400 million in media rights revenue.The conference is under contract to produce approximately 120 football and men’s basketball games for ESPN and Fox and another 850 live events for the Pac-12 Networks’ distribution partners during the 2023-24 sports season.The technology used to broadcast events is first rate, but the conference needs actual humans to handle the operations and production. And many of those humans are job hunting as the Pac-12’s final season of competition unfolds.Internally, conference executives are crafting two plans to navigate the next nine months, according to a source with knowledge of the situation:— A scope-of-services plan to determine which services should be continued as normal, downsized or eliminated.— An employee retention-and-severan...

Man in critical condition after being shot by San Pablo police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:14 GMT

(BCN) -- A 44-year-old man was hospitalized in critical condition Friday afternoon after he was shot in a confrontation with police officers, the San Pablo Police said. Andre Smith was wounded in the front yard of his wife's residence in the 2600 block of Dover Avenue, police said. A woman at the residence called police at 1:39 p.m. and asked officers to assist with a mental health evaluation of Smith, whom she described as showing signs of schizophrenia, police said. Police found Smith had locked himself in a room of the house. Santa Rosa school fight leads to discovery of assault rifle at Montgomery High School student’s home The woman said Smith was not acting violent and agreed to call police if she needed further help. At 2:52 p.m., the woman called police asking them to return, saying Smith had left the room and was harassing her. A dispatcher on the phone heard Smith in the background yelling that he would kill police officers and make them kill him, police said. Of...

Santa Rosa school fight leads to discovery of assault rifle at Montgomery High School student's home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:14 GMT

(BCN) -- An unregistered AR-15-style rifle was found in the home of a 14-year-old Montgomery High School student by Santa Rosa detectives investigating a threat against a middle school student, police said Friday. The gun was seized Tuesday in the 900 block of Aston Avenue after a gang-related video targeting a 13-year-old at Herbert Slater Middle School, police said. Third suspect arrested in Skyline High School shooting The middle school's staff told police two handguns were brandished in the video while a group of four people, two from Montgomery High, threatened to beat up the 13-year-old, police said. Fearing potential violence on school grounds, officers were posted on the campuses of both Slater Middle School on Sonoma Avenue and Montgomery High School on Hahman Drive, police said. The case is rooted in a disturbance at the middle school on Sept. 1, when several juveniles who weren't students there came on campus and started a fight with the 13-year-old, police...