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Operation Outdoor Freedom empowers disabled veterans with underwater lobster dive

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:13:07 GMT

Disabled veterans from across Florida gathered for the seventh annual lobster dive trip organized by Operation Outdoor Freedom, a program dedicated to providing veterans with outdoor and underwater experiences to alleviate the challenges they face due to combat-related issues. The event took place in Fort Lauderdale, where veterans engaged in lobster hunting and formed a bond of friendship.The veterans, some of whom have lost comrades over the years, found solace and connection in this shared experience. “When I’m underwater, that’s my happy space. I’m calm and relaxed and I know it’s the same for all these guys too,” said Brian Bonhe, one of the participating veterans. The dive was particularly significant as it was named after Marine Corps veteran Damon Zigler. “That’s what the event was for, it was for guys like him,” said Alex Esteban, one of the participating veterans. “To keep him away from himself.”The dive was also dedicated to John ...

Orlando debuts self-driving shuttle that will whisk passengers around downtown

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:13:07 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — There is going to be a new way to get around downtown Orlando, Florida, and it’s not going to require any human drivers.Starting later this month, an electric, self-driving shuttle will whisk passengers around a 1-mile (1.6 km) loop in the downtown area for no charge, Orlando officials said Wednesday.The eight-passenger shuttle service is part of a six-month trial for the central Florida city. Transportation planners hope to use data gathered from the pilot program to guide the city’s future transportation strategy.“With the expansion of autonomous vehicle shuttles into our neighborhoods, we can converge cutting-edge technology with new mobility solutions to further redefine the way our community moves,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said.The autonomous shuttle service is operated by Beep Inc., an Orlando-based company that already operates a similar service in a planned community near Orlando International Airport.

Patriots left tackle Trent Brown feeling “great” in return to practice field

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:13:07 GMT

GREEN BAY, Wisc. — The Patriots have got one starter back on their offensive line, and it’s a big one — literally and figureatively.Left tackle Trent Brown was a full participant in practice Wednesday in Green Bay for joint practices with the Packers. The Patriots had missed Brown for most of the first two weeks of training camp as he dealt with a nagging injury.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots already excited about ‘special things’ Ezekiel Elliott can bring New England Patriots | Callahan: How Ezekiel Elliott will make life easy on Patriots’ best, most pivotal players New England Patriots | Patriots 53-man roster projection: Does Malik Cunningham make the cut? New England Patriots | Patriots cut two players to create room for recent signings New England Patriots | Patriots ‘hopeful’ TE Mike Gesicki can return for Week 1 after shoulder injury ...

Mets Notebook: Edwin Diaz throws off mound but too early to talk a late-season return

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:13:07 GMT

Edwin Diaz threw off a mound Wednesday morning at Citi Field for what is believed to be the first time since tearing his right patellar tendon in March. It’s a key step in his rehab process, but that doesn’t mean the Mets closer is nearing a return.Throwing off a mound is one of the benchmarks that Diaz has to meet, but doing it once is only a start. The 29-year-old right-hander still has a ways to go before he can return to competitive action.However, the Mets have not yet decided about bringing back Diaz this season, should he be healthy enough to pitch. Manager Buck Showalter was able to watch Diaz throw from the bullpen cameras and talked with him in the clubhouse later on, but has not involved himself too much in the closer’s rehab. Showalter said it’s too soon for him to be concerned about whether or not he will return to action this season.“It’s a ways off,” Showalter said. “I haven’t gotten into the decision-making for th...

AG Andrea Campbell calls on feds to speed up work authorizations for migrants

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:13:07 GMT

Long processing delays for newly-arrived migrant work authorizations have placed an “increasing burden” on states, their social safety net programs, and shelter systems, Attorney General Andrea Campbell said Wednesday in a letter to the federal government.Campbell penned the letter with 18 other state attorneys general to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in an effort to prompt action on work authorization permits for immigrants who have been lawfully paroled into the United States.The letter comes about a week after Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency in Massachusetts to deal with the high number of migrants and displaced families seeking temporary housing within the state’s emergency shelter system.Addressing processing delays, the attorneys general wrote in their letter, will allow work-eligible migrants to become “self-sufficient” as soon as possible and “not be forced to rely on state resources.”The group said they have seen an unprecedented influx...

BPS fully staffed with bus drivers, still hiring bus monitors ahead of school year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:13:07 GMT

BPS and city leaders are feeling more confident about transporting students to school safely and on time this coming school year, officials outlined at an early back-to-school primer.“Last year to not be fully staffed (with bus drivers) was a deficit. The Orange Line was obviously a critical issue. This year, there’s many more favorable flags going into this school year that help us to feel confident,” Superintendent Mary Skipper said outside Trotter Elementary Wednesday.Officials indicated a positive outlook going into the first few days of transporting K-12 students around the city this school year — a far cry from the mad scramble to distribute free Charlie Cards, commission vans and keep the system afloat in the midst of the Orange Line shutdown, driver shortage and widespread complications last August.The 620 active BPS buses — transporting over 20,000 students daily — are fully staffed with over 700 drivers for the first time since pre-pande...

Two great white sharks have traveled a very similar 4,000-mile path up the Atlantic coast. Are they brothers?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:13:07 GMT

Are two great white sharks that have taken a very similar path north this year brothers or half brothers?That’s what shark researchers are trying to figure out, after juvenile male white sharks Simon and Jekyll were both tagged off the coast of Georgia and have moved close to one another up the Atlantic coast for more than 4,000 miles.Historically, white sharks have been known as solitary animals migrating on their own, but Simon and Jekyll are traveling to the same place at the same time.“They’ve taken an unusually synchronous path north,” OCEARCH Chief Scientist Bob Hueter told the Herald.“It’s the first time we’ve seen something like this, and it’s very interesting, it’s mysterious and it’s exciting,” he added.When OCEARCH researchers tagged 9-footer Simon and 8-footer Jekyll off the Georgia coast in December, the scientists took a number of samples — including blood, tissue and muscle samples.The researchers...

Mac Jones trying to “chase the standard” Tom Brady set with Patriots

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:13:07 GMT

GREEN BAY, Wisc. — Let’s be honest: Patriots-Packers joint practices would have carried more gravitas if they were held four years ago.Since that time, Tom Brady left the Patriots, joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and then retired, and Aaron Rodgers was traded from the Packers to the New York Jets. And now two young quarterbacks — the Patriots’ Mac Jones and the Packers’ Jordan Love — are stuck living in the shadows of two of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.Jones, who never actually played with Brady, since he was drafted a year after Brady left for the Buccaneers, was asked if he would have any advice for Love about replacing a living legend.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots already excited about ‘special things’ Ezekiel Elliott can bring New England Patriots | Callahan: How Ezekiel Elliott will make life easy on Patriots’ best, most pivotal players New England Patriots | ...

SoCal in 'probable path' of Tropical Storm Hilary; When was the last time a tropical storm hit California?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:13:07 GMT

When conversations about tropical storms and hurricanes arise, California is rarely included. A tropical storm forming off the Pacific coast of Mexico, however, could impact the Golden State.Tropical Storm Hilary, which is expected to grow into a hurricane by Thursday, is slated to make its way toward the Baja California peninsula later this week, according to the National Hurricane Center. Tropical storm causes heat warnings and high surf in San Diego While the Hilary is expected to weaken as it approaches the peninsula, the remnants could still bring several inches of rain and potential flooding to the area, according to the Washington Post. Southern California is currently in the storm's "probable path."Tropical Storm Hilary's potential path. Aug. 16, 2023. (NOAA)“Confidence continues to increase on a heavy rainfall, potentially high impact, event unfolding across parts of the Southwest and California Saturday to Monday,” the National Weather Service said Wednesday.While it is ...

Police testify in trial of 2 white Mississippi men in shooting at Black FedEx driver

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:13:07 GMT

BROOKHAVEN, Miss. (AP) — A police dispatcher and a detective testified Wednesday in the trial of two white men in Mississippi who are accused of chasing and shooting at a Black FedEx driver who had dropped off a package at a home.Brandon Case and his father, Gregory Charles Case, charged with attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy and shooting into the vehicle driven by D’Monterrio Gibson in January 2022, sat with their attorneys in a small courtroom full of spectators.Gibson, who is now 25, was not injured. But the chase and gunfire led to complaints on social media of racism in Brookhaven, about an hour’s drive south of the state capital, Jackson. Gibson’s attorney in a civil lawsuit, Carlos Moore, compared the episode to the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was running empty-handed through a Georgia subdivision in 2020 when three white men — a father, son and neighbor — chased him down and blasted him with a shotgun. The encounter between Gibson and ...