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Funeral home owner where 115 decaying bodies found claimed he was doing taxidermy

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:29:32 GMT

CAÑON CITY, Colo. (AP) — The owner of a Colorado funeral home where 115 decaying bodies were found after neighbors reported nauseating smells tried to conceal the improper storage of corpses and claimed he was doing animal taxidermy at the facility, according to a suspension letter sent to him by state regulators.The Return to Nature Funeral Home facility in the small town of Penrose had been unregistered with the state for 10 months on Wednesday when owner Jon Hallford spoke by phone with a state regulator. Ghost town discovered on Colorado’s Western Slope A day earlier, an “abhorrent smell” from the facility was reported, launching an investigation.Hallford acknowledged that he had a “problem” at the property, though the Colorado Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration document obtained by The Associated Press didn't explain what Hallford meant with his taxidermy claim or how he tried to conceal improper storage of human remains.Text messages and phone calls were not a...

100 gallons diesel fuel spill on I-76 ramp in Jefferson County

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:29:32 GMT

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify the location of the spill.DENVER (KDVR) -- A ramp on Interstate 76 in Jefferson County was closed Friday because of a fuel tank that spilled approximately 100 gallons of diesel fuel.The off-ramp from eastbound I-76 to Sheridan Boulevard closed due to a ruptured fuel tank that caused the spill, Colorado State Patrol in Golden tweeted at 10:42 a.m. Friday. At least 115 bodies found at ‘green’ southern Colorado funeral home Emergency crews were at the scene. As of 10:53 a.m., there was no word on how long the cleanup would take.The I-76 ramp reopened later on Friday.

AI-generated K-pop groups created by tech companies are ready to take over the world

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:29:32 GMT

The K-pop industry is no stranger to pushing the boundaries in music, and now companies are using AI-generated stars to front bands and connect with audiences.They’re K-pop confection! Girl group Eternity is taking over the music scene!One of their videos got more than 6 million views on YouTube in just nine months.However, these pop music sensations don’t exist.Zae-in: “My name is Zae-in. (in Korean) I’m from the world’s first virtual K-pop girl group.”Zae-in and the rest of the pop group are all AI-generated. They’re characters created by tech-tainment company Pulse9.Eternity members (singing): “I’m for real.”The company face swaps them over human actors to create their realistic movements.Zae-in (translation): “Of course, we cannot be seen in person, but if you have a device, you can communicate with us anywhere at any time. As a virtual group, we are not limited by location. We can broadcast anywhere. The only thi...

Candy, resilient dog who survived shooting in Hallandale Beach, heads to ‘fur-ever’ home in Lighthouse Point

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:29:32 GMT

An animal lover has come forward and said, “I want Candy.”One day after a plea to the public to save her from euthanasia, a dog that survived a shooting in Hallandale Beach is heading to her new home sweet home.7News cameras on Friday afternoon captured the resilient pooch, named Candy, as she was walked to her new owner’s car outside Broward County Animal Care and Adoption Center in Fort Lauderdale.Police said the 2-year-old mix came under fire along the 200 block of Northwest Third Avenue on Sept. 4. Officers found her shot in the head, neck and leg.Her story first aired on 7News Thursday evening.Among those watching was Chris Boan.“When we saw her, we knew that this dog needed a home,” he said.Boan became emotional when discussing the violent circumstances that led to his adoption of Candy.“It just breaks my heart, it makes no sense. This world’s gone through so much, and these animals, they don’t deserve this treatment,” he s...

School bus monitor charged with assaulting Methuen boy with autism appears in court

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:29:32 GMT

A Lawrence woman accused of assaulting a 10-year-old boy with autism while on a bus appeared in court on Friday where she was ordered to be released, but required to wear a GPS monitor.During a dangerousness hearing, prosecutors told the court that bus monitor Nancy Vasquez, 56, regularly abused a 5th grade boy living with autism during his one hour drive to and from school.“Every single day, she does, in fact, abuse this 10-year-old special needs child,” prosecutor Erin McAndrews said. “She hits him with a sandal, she hits him with her cell phone multiple times. She pinches him, she twists his arm – she continuously smacks him in the face.”The prosecution said the abuse was only exposed because the boy’s father, Anthony Amero, reported his child seemed to be terrified every time he got in the van each day.Both Vasquez and a bus driver, Marlene Cruz, 38, were recently arrested by Methuen police, with Vasquez charged with Assault and Battery on a D...

Julian Phillips and Dalen Terry face an uphill battle, but the young Chicago Bulls guards are working for playing time

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:29:32 GMT

The Chicago Bulls rotation is a tough one to crack for a young guard.Dalen Terry knows that better than anyone. A first-round draft pick in 2022, Terry struggled to get on the court last season, averaging 5.6 minutes in 38 appearances.For Terry and rookie Julian Phillips, getting into the Bulls rotation this season will be an uphill battle as they fight for minutes in the secondary rotation behind Jevon Carter, Alex Caruso and Ayo Dosunmu. But both have begun to make their case in training camp.Phillips had made a strong impression during summer league, shooting 56.3% (9-for-16) from the field and 44.4% on 3-pointers in four games. After practice Thursday, coach Billy Donovan praised Phillips for his ability to pick up the nuances of the professional game quickly, making a visible jump in his readiness to be on the court over the last four months.“Julian’s been the guy that to me has really — from where he was at the start of summer league practice to where he i...

Unbeaten Watertown hands Reading girls first field hockey loss

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:29:32 GMT

WATERTOWN – The route the Watertown field hockey team took in a battle of unbeatens on Friday was different from any other this year, but the destination was the same.The No. 1 Raiders (10-0) used a dynamic attack and smothering defense to topple No. 5 Reading (10-1) in a 7-0 win at Victory Field. Molly Driscoll was at the forefront with a flashy hat trick, and Rachel Egan added two more as four different players scored for Watertown in its 64th straight win.The Rockets got much more offensive pressure and held up defensively far better than any other team has against Watertown this year, but it didn’t seem to get in the way. After tight finishes between them over the past two seasons, the Raiders made a statement to win by seven in a game that felt much closer.“That’s (a part of) our development from the beginning of the season and all those tough scrimmages,” said Watertown head coach Eileen Donahue. “Our alignment has changed several times, our people on the field have changed se...

Almost 1,000 migrating birds die after crashing into Chicago building, a 40-year record

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:29:32 GMT

Nara Schoenberg, Jake Sheridan | Chicago TribuneAt least 960 migrating birds, the highest number on record, died Thursday in “massive carnage” at McCormick Place Lakeside Center, according to David Willard, a retired bird division collections manager at the Field Museum.Birds were crashing into windows even as monitors collected the casualties, Willard said.“It was just discouraging as can be,” said Willard. “You’re looking at a rose-breasted grosbeak that, if it hadn’t hit a Chicago window, would have made it to the Andes of Peru.”Willard blamed the worst day in 40 years of monitoring on an array of factors, including weather patterns, badly timed rain and lit windows at Lakeside Center.First, there was a stretch of time with few winds out of the north, which left a lot of birds backed up and ready to migrate: “Sometimes, it’s like ‘now or never,’ and they go,” Willard said.Then, when the flight began, it was huge. One local birder who was out Thursday morning told Willard that he ...

It's the final day of a massive health care strike over pay and staff shortages. No deal is in sight

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:29:32 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A massive health care strike over wages and staffing shortages entered its final day on Friday without a deal between industry giant Kaiser Permanente and the unions representing the 75,000 workers who picketed this week.The three-day strike carried out in multiple states is set to officially end Saturday at 6 a.m., and workers were expected to return to their jobs in Kaiser’s hospitals and clinics that serve nearly 13 million Americans.The most recent bargaining concluded midday Wednesday. Additional sessions were scheduled by the parties for Oct. 12 and 13, the unions announced Friday.The decision to walk off an important job was very difficult, said Josephine Rios, 55, a nurse attendant who takes in patients for surgery at a hospital in Irvine, California.“Unfortunately, it’s a financial burden for us that live paycheck to paycheck," she said. "We can’t afford to strike a long time, but it’s a double-edged sword. We can’t afford not to strike.”A fall heat wave ...

Hundreds of migrants crossing border daily, gathering in mountains east of San Diego

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:29:32 GMT

JACUMBA, Calif. (Border Report) -- Samuel Schultz has spent these last two weeks handing out peanut butter sandwiches and bottles of water to hundreds of migrants gathering at three spots near the high desert community of Jacumba, California, about 75 miles east of San Diego.Schultz is a volunteer with a group called Border Kindness.Schultz says he speaks with Border Patrol agents often who tell him they can't keep up with the large volume of migrants coming across."The agents are swamped and they are very straightforward about the fact that this is not their job, this is not what they are set up to do they were never set up to do something like this. They are slammed.”A U.S. Border Patrol agent speaks with a group of migrants at the border on Oct. 6, 2023, in Jacumba, Calif. (Salvador Rivera/Border ReportSchultz said it's easy to spot when smugglers are driving up to the border barrier to drop off migrants who then walk around an area where the border barrier ends."You can see the ...