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In Pensacola, you can step through city’s vibrant history, then dig your toes into its sugar white sand

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:20:44 GMT

Patti Nickell | Tribune News ServiceAs a beach-loving traveler, I have seen a lot of sand in my time. The pearl-pink sands of Bermuda and the charcoal black sands of Hawaii. The dunes of Cape Cod and the golden stretches of the Cote d’Azur.But I can truthfully say that I have never seen more beautiful beaches than those sugar white expanses of the Florida Panhandle. For nearly 250 miles, the beaches border an aquamarine stretch of the Gulf of Mexico that has earned it the nickname Emerald Riviera.As fond as I am of beaches, however, I love history and culture just as much. And in the panhandle of Florida, that means Pensacola.It may surprise some – even in the state of Florida – to learn that it was Pensacola, not St. Augustine, that was first discovered by European explorers.In this case, Spanish explorer Tristan de Luna who happened on these beaches in 1559, six years before Ponce de Leon wandered ashore in St. Augustine.De Luna didn’t stick around (thanks to a hurricane that dest...

Sweetgreen set to open third San Diego location

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:20:44 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Cult-favorite Los Angeles-based restaurant chain, Sweetgreen, is set to open its third location in San Diego this week.The new outpost of the fast-casual salad spot will be opening at Del Mar Highlands Town Center on Tuesday, July 11.Sweetgreen was founded in 2007 by three recent college graduates in Washington, D.C. as a way to "reimagine fast food." Since then, over a hundred restaurants have been opened, gaining widespread popularity among health-food enthusiasts and foodies alike. Farm to table: Local nonprofit ‘upcycles’ to help families with food insecurity The Del Mar Highlands Town Center location will open nearly two months after Sweetgreen expanded its presence in San Diego to Westfield UTC in La Jolla. The first outpost in America's Finest City opened early last year in Carlsbad at the Beacon La Costa Towne Center.To celebrate the Del Mar location's opening, there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony with the North San Diego Business Chamber of Commerce at 10 ...

Indiana authorities investigate deaths of 3 patients within a week at addiction treatment center

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:20:44 GMT

MISHAWAKA, Ind. (AP) — The deaths of three patients within a week at a northern Indiana addiction treatment center are being investigated by local authorities, who are also looking into a suspected overdose involving a fourth patient.The St. Joseph County Police Department said Tuesday it was working with the county coroner’s office to investigate the deaths and the suspected overdose at Praxis Landmark Recovery, an all-male drug and alcohol rehabilitation center located near Mishawaka, a city that is adjacent to South Bend.The first death was discovered July 3 at the treatment center, where police and first responders called to the scene about a dead patient found the body of Seth M. Jones, 19, of Montpelier, Indiana.The next day, police and first responders were called again to the center about a second death and found the body of William Breda, 46, of Griffith, Indiana. Police said Breda and Jones’ bodies were found in rooms across the hall from each other.Within six hours ...

Chinese hackers breached State Dept., other government email on eve of Blinken visit, officials say

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:20:44 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — State-backed Chinese hackers foiled Microsoft’s cloud-based security in hacking the email accounts of officials at multiple U.S. agencies that deal with China ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing last month, officials said Wednesday.The surgical, targeted espionage accessed the email of a small number of individuals at an unspecified number of U.S. agencies and was discovered in mid-June by the State Department, U.S. officials said. They said none of the breached systems were classified, nor was any of the stolen data.One person familiar with the investigation said U.S. military and intelligence agencies were not among the agencies impacted in the monthlong spying campaign, which also affected unnamed foreign governments.The officials spoke on condition they not be further identified. In a technical advisory Wednesday and a call with reporters, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI said Microsoft d...

‘A puddle of emotions’: Sheryl Lee Ralph, Jessica Chastain, others discuss their Emmy nominations

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:20:44 GMT

Reactions from select nominees for the 2023 Emmy Awards.SHERYL LEE RALPH“I am a puddle of emotions! It is just absolutely crazy. It, I mean, I am living one spectacular year. … In all honesty, it could never ever be about me trying to beat that moment (of last year’s ceremony, when Ralph won her Emmy and stole the show, singing much of her speech). Maybe they’ll ask me to host it! That moment was something. as all of my friends say that’s something you worked for Sheryl. That’s something you waited for and you received the gift, now, just sit back and be lovely and I’m gonna just sit back and be lovely! And so thankful to everybody who thought that it should be me … for me to be in a space where that is happening for me after all of these years, I’m just so happy. I am SO happy.” — Ralph, who’s nominated for best supporting actress in a comedy for ABC’s “Abbott Elementary.” JESSICA CHASTAIN“It’s incredible … the thing that was th...

In Greece, 7 get life for stabbing death of fan that triggered crackdown on soccer violence

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:20:44 GMT

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Seven men in northern Greece were sentenced to life in prison Wednesday after being found guilty of murder in the beating death of a 19-year-old soccer fan that shocked the country and triggered a crackdown on soccer-related violence.Twelve defendants involved in the February 2022 attack were convicted last week in the northern city of Thessaloniki. Seven received life terms at a sentencing hearing Wednesday and the five others were ordered to serve 19 or 20 years in prison.Alkis Kambanos died of stab wounds near his home and two others were injured after a group of men went to search for rival fans at random in an area next to a stadium used by Thessaloniki soccer club Aris.“This is a vindication for our family but my boy is never coming back,” the dead fan’s mother, Melina Kakoulidou, told reporters outside the court after the sentences were announced.The attackers drove to the scene of the murder in three cars, carrying knives and wooden bats. Aged bet...

Archibald removed from AFN meeting for violating code of conduct, says interim chief

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:20:44 GMT

HALIFAX — The interim chief of the Assembly of First Nations says former national chief RoseAnne Archibald was barred Tuesday from participating in the organization’s annual general meeting because she violated its code of conduct.Joanna Bernard told chiefs gathered in Halifax Wednesday that she is committed to making the assembly safe for all. “There must be zero-tolerance policies within the AFN,” Bernard said. “We pledge to ensure that happens, and we are already taking steps.” As an example, she pointed to the decision by meeting co-chairs Tuesday to exclude “a participant who was violating the code of conduct for our meetings.”Bernard did not specify how Archibald had violated the code, and she was not made available to media.The decision Tuesday came after Archibald, participating by video, denounced leaders of the First Nations advocacy organization and said her ousting last month was an example of “lateral violence” and a...

Union and employers receive mediator’s terms to end B.C. port strike, source says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:20:44 GMT

VANCOUVER — A source close to negotiations over the British Columbia port strike said both sides on Wednesday received the terms of a settlement recommended by a federal mediator that could end the 12-day-old industrial action.The delivery of the terms comes after federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan late Tuesday instructed the mediator to send him the terms within 24 hours so he could forward them to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada and the B.C. Maritime Employers Association.The two sides have 24 hours upon receiving the recommendations to decide whether or not to ratify the agreement.Neither side confirmed they have received the terms.British Columbia business groups said there’s no guarantee the strike will end quickly despite O’Regan’s move.The groups, including the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, the B.C. Council of Forest Industries and the Mining Association of B.C., said at an event in Vancouver on Wednesday that they are co...

Inflation drops to 3% and Biden hopes to turn a weakness with voters into a strength

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:20:44 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The politics of inflation took a sharp turn Wednesday with a report showing consumer prices rose at the slowest pace since the early months of Joe Biden’s presidency. Republicans have hammered Biden over the cost of groceries, gasoline, utilities and more, saying his $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package and push for electric vehicles were responsible for pushing inflation to a four-decade high. The GOP argument has resonated with voters, but the report on consumer prices for June suggests that inflation has eased dramatically without any of the job losses that some economists and Republican leaders said would occur.Prices have risen just 3% from a year ago, compared with 9.1% in June 2022, and it’s the lowest reading since March 2021. Unlike a year ago, inflation is mainly coming from a government measure of shelter based on what it would cost to rent a home. This makes the inflation argument somewhat nuanced as data from AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of t...

S&P/TSX composite up almost 200 points, U.S. stock markets also rise

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:20:44 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index was up almost 200 points Wednesday on broad-based gains led by utilities and base metals after the central bank raised interest rates to five per cent, while U.S. stock markets also rose after a new report showed inflation cooling last month.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 192.21 points at 20,070.77.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 86.01 points at 34,347.43. The S&P 500 index was up 32.90 points at 4,472.16, while the Nasdaq composite was up 158.26 points at 13,918.96.The Bank of Canada’s rate hike was not a surprise to investors, said Lesley Marks, chief investment officer of equity at Mackenzie Investments.“Over the last week or so, it looked more and more likely that the Bank of Canada was going to move. So I think that this was generally priced into the market,” she said.The announcement by the central bank came on the heels of hotly anticipated inflation data in the U.S., which showed price growth slowed s...