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Festival Eritrea going ahead at Toronto hotel after city revokes park permit

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

A cultural festival that was marred by violence on Saturday is still scheduled to go ahead this evening at a downtown Toronto hotel. A poster for Festival Eritrea advertises events in Earlscourt Park on all three days of the August long weekend including Sunday night at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel on Queen Street West starting at 7 p.m.A Change.org petition started on July 30 calls on the hotel to cancel the event, claiming the festival is sponsored by the Eritrean regime.“Unlike community-based cultural festivals, this event is an extension of internationally orchestrated state-sponsored fundraising scheme devised to circumvent Canadian and U.S. sanctions,” reads the petition, which has been signed by more than 1,700 people as of Sunday afternoon. “These events are directed and organized by diplomatic missions of the state of Eritrea using local shadowy organizations.”CityNews reached out to the hotel, who say the event is scheduled to go ahead as plan...

Girl, 8, fatally shot in head in Portage Park, offender in custody

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO -- An eight-year-old girl is dead after she was shot in the head by a known offender in Portage Park Saturday night. According to police, a known individual approached a group from across the street near the 3500 block of North Long Avenue around 9:40 p.m. and shot the girl in the head.She was transported to Stroger Hospital in critical condition where she was then pronounced dead. 2 injured after being electrocuted on CTA tracks in Oak Park on their way to Lollapalooza Another man on the scene got into physical altercation with the offender and tried to disarm him. During the struggle, the offender was shot in the face and transported to the hospital in critical condition. The offender has been placed into custody and charges are pending. A weapon was recovered on the scene and police are investigating.

These are Yelp's 15 favorite mom and pop restaurants in the U.S.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — Want to support local businesses across the U.S.? It's not always easy to find mom and pop-type restaurants in an online search — and it's not easy to figure out which ones are any good. Recently, Entrepreneur and Yelp partnered to find the top 15 mom and pop restaurants in the U.S. from among hundreds.To formulate the list, Yelp ranked independently owned and operated businesses with no more than 4 locations based on volume and ratings of reviews. Businesses needed to be marked as "open" on Yelp as of May 15 and have a passing health score as of that same date, Yelp explains. Taylor Swift SoFi ticket prices are dropping Topping the list is ITs Izakaya, a Japanese tapas restaurant located in Las Vegas. Among the restaurant's most popular dishes are its takoyaki and yellowtail carpaccio. Here's all 15 of Yelp's top Mom and Pop Restaurants:RankNameLocation1.ITs IzakayaLas Vegas2.Thanh Tinh ChaySan Diego3.Pla-Tu Sushi Thai TapasMiami4.Nahm Thai & Burmese CuisineBoise,...

A megahost might run your Airbnb: Why it matters

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

(NerdWallet) - Airbnb has changed a lot since its humble couch-surfing beginnings in 2007. What started as a way for homeowners to earn extra income by renting out their spare bedrooms has become a multibillion-dollar, industry-disrupting giant.The majority of travelers now rent entire residences rather than stay with hosts. Nights booked at private rooms made up only 16% of U.S. short-term rental bookings in May 2023, an all-time low, according to a report from AirDNA, a short-term rental analytics company.And many of the hosts renting their homes are not mom-and-pop homeowners trying to earn extra income. They’re large management companies with multiple properties in their portfolios, some with dozens or even hundreds.More than 30% of active listings in the U.S. are managed by hosts with 21 or more properties, according to data provided by AirDNA. That’s more than the 26% of listings managed by single-property hosts.In other words, almost three in four Airbnb listings are now mana...

Here's what the Farmers' Alamac has predicted for the next Texas winter

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

TYLER, Texas (KETK) - As summer continues, some people are wondering when things will finally cool down.The Farmers' Almanac has been publishing their forecasts for over 200 years using their secret formula and this week they have predicted that "the brrr is back" for the 2023-2024 winter.In their extended winter forecast, it is predicted that Texas will see an unseasonably cold, stormy winter for this year.Last winter, the Farmers' Almanac predicted a chilly winter with normal precipitation for the area, and, according to the Texas Department of Emergency Management, a cold air mass shifted over Texas on Dec. 22 causing temperatures to plummet statewide."Much of Texas endured temperatures below freezing - in some cases well below freezing - for dozens of hours," the department said in their overview of the 2022 Texas winter. "Most Texans faced frigid conditions through at least the morning of Dec. 25, with morning lows around freezing on Dec. 26 and Dec. 27."In their predictions fo...

'It's a game-changer': Wounded veteran celebrates new airplane bathroom accessibility rule

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Advocates are celebrating a new rule from the Department of Transportation that will make airplane bathrooms more accessible. However, they're hesitant, because travelers won't see these changes immediately.As a wounded veteran who uses a wheelchair, Charles Brown knows that for those with disabilities, flying often means going without access to a bathroom."It's demeaning, it's degrading. You have to dehydrate yourself so you don't have to urinate," Brown said.Brown used to be the president of Paralyzed Veterans of America. He and the group have spent years advocating for accessibility on airplanes.Now that's happening. Under the new DOT rule, starting in three years, new planes will be required to have accessibility features like bathroom grab bars and call buttons. In 2033, new planes must expand their bathrooms."It's a game-changer. It allows more people with disabilities to fly," Brown said.Transportation Secretary Buttigieg says this is an important chang...

Fringe review: ‘Big Dad Energy’ draws the laughs — and maybe a tear — for a childless comic

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Worth consideringStand-up comedian Jamie Campbell offers a heady, heartwarming and sometimes heartbreaking meditation on fatherhood, even though he himself isn’t a father. Married at 40, Campbell — like a lot of late-in-life spouses across modern America — grapples with the strong likelihood that he will never raise a mini-me, which could be the end of the line for his lineage. His sensitive, self-deprecating comedy routine draws heavily from his childhood in the ‘80s and ‘90s, but some younger audience members on Saturday seemed to share his mojo, which occasionally visits edgier topics like sex and drugs without getting mired there. The self-described house husband, who tours nationally, was once named “Best Stand-Up Comedian” by The Chicago Reader and wrote and performed the album “Tell Me You’re Proud of Me,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Amazon comedy charts.Presented by Jamie Campbell Creative at the Rarig Center Xperimental stag...

Ukrainians move to North Dakota for oil field jobs to help families back home

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

DICKINSON, N.D. — Maksym Bunchukov remembers hearing rockets explode in Zaporizhzhia as the war in Ukraine began.“It was terrible,” he said. He and his wife sent their adult daughter west to Lviv for safety and joined her later with their pets.Now, about 18 months after the war broke out, Bunchukov is in North Dakota, like thousands of Ukrainians who came over a century ago.He is one of 16 new arrivals who are part of a trade group’s pilot effort through the Uniting for Ukraine humanitarian program to recruit refugees and migrants during a workforce shortage. Twelve more Ukrainians are scheduled to arrive by Aug. 15 as part of the North Dakota Petroleum Council’s Bakken Global Recruitment of Oilfield Workers program.Some workers want to bring their families to North Dakota while others hope to return to Ukraine.“I will try to invite my wife, invite my daughter, invite my cat and invite my dog,” Bunchukov told The Associated Press a week after his arrival.The Bakken program has human...

O'Neill homers, Matz pitches six solid innings as Cardinals beat Rockies 6-2

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Tyler O’Neill homered, Steven Matz pitched six strong innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies 6-2 Saturday night.Matz (3-7) allowed one run and five hits while striking out six to improve to 3-0 with a 2.06 ERA in six starts since rejoining the Cardinals’ rotation on July 9.“This is a really nice stretch for Matz, and it's awesome to see,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “He continues to pitch with an edge. Obviously, the (velocity is) up which is helpful. That's a big contributor to his success.”Matz is also pleased with his recent stretch.“I think that’s what you want out of a starter,” he said. “That’s what I wanted to do early in the year. So to be able to do that here. The second half of it definitely feels nice.”Rockies starter Ty Blach (1-1) allowed four runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings in his third start of the season.“That’s the first time I’ve thrown that many pitches in three months,” Blach said. “I definitely was not quite...

Angels vs. Dodgers: Same sport with very different prices

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Taking your family to the ballgame and buying them some hot dogs and sodas is a beloved summer pastime. Unfortunately, depending on the stadium, the price you pay may be a shame. MoneyGeek analyzed budget ticket options for the rest of the 2023 season, along with parking and concessions, to calculate how much it costs on average for a family of four to attend a game with all 30 MLB teams. Overall, the personal finance website found that an average trip to an MLB game for a family of four costs $140.  These are the best MLB ballparks, according to Yelp A family visiting the most expensive team on the list, the Los Angeles Dodgers would spend about $219, MoneyGeek found. If you’re looking to save a buck — or way more — you’ll need to go across the country to Miami, where a Marlins game will cost an average of $83. A combination of more affordable ticket, parking, and concession prices (four hot dogs, two beers, and two sodas) helped keep a game in Miami below $10...