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Orlando Magic rename arena Kia Center, ending 13-year run as Amway Center

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:13:28 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Orlando Magic rebranded their arena as Kia Center on Wednesday, a change that ends the building’s 13-year run of being known as Amway Center.The transition to the new name has been underway for some time; by the unveiling Wednesday morning, the Kia logo was already in place on one of the banners that hangs over the court, plus on the basket stanchions. Security workers had new vests with the logo and employees were being given new swipe access cards with the building’s new name.Terms of the new naming rights deal were not disclosed; the deal with Amway, when originally announced, was worth about $4 million per year. The first event under the new name is a game between the Magic and Miami Heat on Wednesday night.“The Orlando Magic and Kia America have been proud partners for several years and we share in the excitement of Kia’s success and growth,” Magic CEO Alex Martins said. “We look forward to our expanded partnership which allows Kia to drive its brand fo...

Parents of children sickened by lead linked to tainted fruit pouches fear for kids’ future

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:13:28 GMT

When Cora Dibert went for a routine blood test in October, the toddler brought along her favorite new snack: a squeeze pouch of WanaBana cinnamon-flavored apple puree.“She sucked them dry,” recalls her 26-year-old mother, Morgan Shurtleff, of Elgin, Oklahoma.Within a week, the family got an alarming call. The test showed that the 1-year-old had lead poisoning, with nearly four times as much lead as the level that raises concern. Only later did Shurtleff learn that that the fruit puree Cora’s grandmother bought at a Dollar Tree store may have been the cause.“That was the scariest thing that ever happened to me,” Shurtleff says.Cora is among dozens of young kids across the U.S. poisoned by lead linked to tainted pouches of the cinnamon-and-fruit puree. The exact number of affected children is unclear. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports at least 205 confirmed, probable or suspected cases from 33 states. Using a different reporting method, the Food and Drug Administr...

1 dead, 1 seriously injured in Caledon crash

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:13:28 GMT

One person is dead and another person has serious injuries following a two-vehicle crash in Caledon.Ontario Provincial Police officers were called to Mayfield Road near Creditview Road just before 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday.Paramedics say one person was pronounced dead at the scene.A second person was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.Their ages are not yet known.Mayfield is closed between Creditview and Mississauga roads.Developing story. More to come.

Rite Aid banned from facial recognition tech use for 5 years after faulty theft targeting in stores

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:13:28 GMT

Rite Aid has been banned from using facial recognition technology for five years over allegations that its surveillance system was used incorrectly to identify potential shoplifters, especially Black, Latino, Asian or female shoppers.The settlement with the Federal Trade Commission addresses charges that the struggling drugstore chain didn’t do enough to prevent harm to its customers and implement “reasonable procedures,” the government agency said.Rite Aid said late Tuesday that it disagrees with the allegations, but that it’s glad it reached an agreement to resolve the issue.The FTC said in a federal court complaint that Rite Aid used facial recognition technology in hundreds of stores from October 2012 to July 2020 to identify shoppers “it had previously deemed likely to engage in shoplifting or other criminal behavior.”The technology sent alerts to Rite Aid employees either by email or phone when it identified people entering the store on its watchlist.The FTC said in its ...

Nature groups go to court in Greece over a strategic gas terminal backed by the European Union

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:13:28 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Five Greek and international environmental campaign agencies have launched legal action against a major natural gas project supported by the European Union as a regional alternative to Russian energy.Greenpeace and the World Wide Fund for Nature led the request at Greece’s highest administrative court, the Council of State, against a planned offshore natural gas storage and conversion plant, outside the northeastern port of Alexandroupolis.The action was filed on Tuesday, the groups said in a joint statement. The terminal, due to go online early next year, will operate on a modified tanker — also named the “Alexandroupolis” — to store liquefied natural gas and convert it into gas form, supplying the national distribution network.The 288-meter (945-foot) long vessel arrived at its destination on Sunday, following a 10-month-long conversion at the Keppel shipyards in Singapore.In their court challenge, the nature groups described the plant as “accident-prone” and...

Two teens arrested after assaulting off-duty cop in Durham Region

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:13:28 GMT

Two teenage boys are facing charges after they allegedly assaulted an off-duty police officer in Durham Region last week.Durham Regional Police officers were called to the area of Mill Street and Millson Hill Drive in Clarington around 2:40 a.m. on Friday for reports of an assault.It is alleged an off-duty officer from another police service saw two males causing damage to a vehicle. The off-duty officer confronted the pair and identified himself as an officer before telling the suspects they were under arrest.Police say the two suspects resisted arrest and then assaulted the officer. The pair ran away before Durham officers arrived.Officers were able to located both with the help of the police K9 unit. They were arrested at a nearby home where they were found hiding inside a trailer.Two 15-year-old boys from Clarington are each charged with assaulting an officer and mischief under $5000.The suspects cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Israel’s top diplomat wants to fast-track humanitarian aid to Gaza via maritime corridor from Cyprus

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:13:28 GMT

LARNACA, Cyprus (AP) — Israel wants to fast-track the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza through a maritime corridor from Cyprus, bolstering stability in the region, the country’s foreign minister said Wednesday.Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said Israeli and Cypriot technical teams would spend Wednesday and Thursday hammering out the details of the initiative so that aid shipments from Cyprus’ port of Larnaca, some 240 miles (385 kilometers) from Gaza, can begin as soon as possible.“Cyprus and Israel, together with other partners in the region are promoting the initiative for a secure maritime corridor to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian assistance to Gaza in an organized and well inspected manner,” Cohen said after talks with his Cypriot counterpart Constantinos Kombos.Cohen was briefed on the initiative’s details during a visit to the Zenon Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Larnaca, which will act as the operational center for the aid shipments. H...

Browning West seeks Chamandy’s return to Gildan, prepared to call shareholder meeting

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:13:28 GMT

MONTREAL — A U.S. investment firm says it’s prepared to seek changes on the board at Gildan Activewear Inc. if the company does not reinstate Glenn Chamandy as chief executive.In a letter to the board, Browning West also urged it to remove Donald Berg as chair and appoint Browning West co-founder Peter Lee as a shareholder representative. Browning West says it will seek a special meeting of shareholders to replace the board if the company does not heed the feedback from it and other shareholders and will not hesitate to hold the board accountable for further delay in rectifying the situation. For its part, Gildan’s board said the decision to remove Chamandy and replace him with Vince Tyra came after Chamandy agreed to a succession timeline only to later ask to stay on beyond the original plan.In a letter to shareholders, Berg, along with the board’s committee chairs, wrote that the board’s trust and confidence in Chamandy had eroded as it worked to hold him a...

The poinsettia by any other name? Try ‘cuetlaxochitl’ or ‘Nochebuena’

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:13:28 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Like Christmas trees, Santa and reindeer, the poinsettia has long been a ubiquitous symbol of the holiday season in the U.S. and Europe.But now, nearly 200 years after the plant with the bright crimson leaves was introduced north of the Rio Grande, attention is once again turning to the poinsettia’s origins and the checkered history of its namesake. Some things to know:WHERE DID THE NAME POINSETTIA COME FROM?The name “poinsettia” comes from the amateur botanist and statesman Joel Roberts Poinsett, who happened upon the plant in 1828 on a side trip during his tenure as the first U.S. minister to a newly independent Mexico.Poinsett, who was interested in science as well as potential cash crops, sent clippings of the plant to his home in South Carolina, and to a botanist in Philadelphia, who affixed the eponymous name to the plant in gratitude. A life-size bronze statue of Poinsett still stands in his honor today in downtown Greenville.A CHRISTMAS FLOWER OF ...

New Year's Eve fireworks spectacular returning to Chicago River to ring in 2024

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:13:28 GMT

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City of Chicago’s Department of CulturalAffairs and Special Events announced Wednesday the return of the New Year’s Evefireworks spectacular on the Chicago River to ring in 2024. In partnership with ART on THE MART, the New Year’s Eve celebrations will include a custom projection highlighting ART on THE MART’s five years of programming, beginning Sunday, Dec. 31, at 7:30 p.m. The evening will culminate with a fireworks display from six bridges alongthe river, beginning at midnight to coincide with the grand Navy Pier fireworks displayon the lakefront."Chicagoans have the unique ability to find hope and resilience in each day, and NewYear’s Eve is the foundation of beginning a new year with the same unbridledoptimism," Mayor Johnson said in a news release. "As an icon of our city’s landscape, theChicago River is what unites our town, and we are excited to bring everyone together ina big way, continuing traditions and beginning new ones."Accordi...