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

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:06 GMT

Powerful earthquake in Morocco kills more than 1,300 people, damages historic buildings in Marrakech 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 Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:06 GMT

Police locate 72-year-old man missing from Austin neighborhood 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 Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:06 GMT

$2M in funding coming to Austin-based National Domestic Violence Hotline 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 Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:06 GMT

CU Buffs vs. Nebraska quick hits: Fire up the Shedeur Sanders hype machine. This guy’s the real deal. 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 Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:06 GMT

'It makes no sense': Florida mom finds twins suffocated in toy chest 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 Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:06 GMT

Pac-12 chaos: Legal filings could bring board action to a halt, but answers needed on employee retention plan 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 Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:06 GMT

Man in critical condition after being shot by San Pablo police (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 Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:06 GMT

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

Palo Alto home burglarized for third time in 2 years

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:06 GMT

Palo Alto home burglarized for third time in 2 years (BCN) -- Two burglars entered a house in Palo Alto despite an alarm going off, leaving only when a resident yelled at them, according to police. It was the third time the house on Crescent Drive in the city's Crescent Park neighborhood has been burglarized in two years, Palo Alto police said Friday. Two Bay Area schools crack Top 5 in Forbes’ best colleges list The burglars broke glass in one of the home's locked rear doors about 8:30 p.m. Thursday. The home's burglar alarm sounded, waking a woman and her husband, who had been asleep, police said. When the woman went to investigate, she saw two people downstairs wearing black hooded sweatshirts and black face masks. She yelled at them, and they ran out the front door, police said. It is not known whether the suspects are related to the two prior burglaries at the same residence, on Nov. 29, 2021 and Feb. 23, 2022, which remain open and unsolved, police said. Most residential burglaries occur during the day, when homes ar...

Dalvin Cook signed with the Jets despite them giving the running back a ‘worst-case scenario’

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:06 GMT

Dalvin Cook signed with the Jets despite them giving the running back a ‘worst-case scenario’ FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Coach Robert Saleh was certain the New York Jets were about to lose out on signing Dalvin Cook.The then-free agent running back was visiting the team in July, with each side gauging the other’s interest, when the Jets presented what seemed like a potential deal breaker.“I feel like we put on a worst-case scenario,” Saleh recalled Saturday. “When he left, I was like, ’There’s no way he’s going to want to play here.’”The Jets told Cook, who’s coming off four straight seasons of at least 1,100 yards rushing in Minnesota, he could end up standing on the sideline a lot while other running backs played.New York also has Breece Hall, Michael Carter and rookie Israel Abanikanda in the backfield, so carries could be tough to come by, especially if offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett rides the hot hand in games.“And he still wanted to be here,” Saleh said. “It was laid out exactly and I was like, ‘Why would he want to be here the way...