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Ask the Pediatrician: What is the best first sport for kids?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:31 GMT

Dr. W. Steen James | (TNS) American Academy of PediatricsI always tell parents that, for many reasons, swimming should be the first sport a child learns.Swimming is a fun, relaxing activity that fuels brain health and builds strong bodies. It’s great for growing children, since learning to move in the water improves coordination and flexibility. With indoor pools, swim clubs and water fun parks in many communities, families often enjoy swimming year-round.But a more important reason I urge parents to enroll their kids in swim lessons — well before other sports like T-ball, basketball and soccer — is that beyond the fun and fitness it provides, swimming is an essential life skill that can help protect your child from drowning.Drowning is the No. 1 cause of death among children aged 1 to 4. But research shows that teaching them to swim early in life is a key layer of prevention that can help prevent tragedies.Drowning can happen in seconds, and it’s often silent. My family...

A heat wave in Texas is forecast to spread scorching temperatures to the north and east

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:31 GMT

By JAKE BLEIBERG, KEN MILLER and ISABELLA O’MALLEY (Associated Press)DALLAS (AP) — Scorching temperatures brought on by a “heat dome” have taxed the Texas power grid and threaten to bring record highs to the state before they are expected to expand to other parts of the U.S. during the coming week, putting even more people at risk. “Going forward, that heat is going to expand … north to Kansas City and the entire state of Oklahoma, into the Mississippi Valley … to the far western Florida Panhandle and parts of western Alabama,” while remaining over Texas, said Bob Oravec, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service.Record high temperatures around 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) are forecast in parts of western Texas on Monday, and relief is not expected before the Fourth of July holiday, Oravec said.Cori Iadonisi, of Dallas, summed up the weather simply: “It’s just too hot here.” Iadonisi, 40, said s...

US home prices recover further as buyers battle for tight supply of listings

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:31 GMT

Patrick Clark | (TNS) Bloomberg NewsHome prices in the U.S. rose for a third straight month, pushed up by growing buyer demand for a tight supply of listings.A national gauge of prices increased 0.5% in April from March, according to seasonally adjusted data from S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller.The U.S. is in what’s traditionally its busiest homebuying season, with only about half the properties that were listed for sale in spring 2019. The inventory shortage is keeping a lid on transactions, but shoppers determined to seal a deal are often forced to pay more than the asking price in many areas of the country.“The ongoing recovery in home prices is broadly based,” Craig Lazzara, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement Tuesday.On a year-over-year basis, prices slipped 0.2%, compared with a 0.7% increase in March. Miami, Chicago and Atlanta reported the highest annual gains among the 20 largest cities.The housing market is still adjusting to mortgage rates t...

DeSantis says he’ll ‘actually’ build border wall, swipes at Trump as both campaign in New Hampshire

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:31 GMT

By MICHELLE L. PRICE, HOLLY RAMER and WILL WEISSERT (Associated Press)HOLLIS, N.H. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis promised Tuesday to tear down Washington’s traditional political power centers and secure the country’s southern border, pledging to succeed where former President Donald Trump failed as the two held dueling campaign events in the critical early primary voting state of New Hampshire. Addressing a town hall in Hollis, DeSantis talked extensively about the new immigration policy proposal he released Monday in South Texas. He’s betting that the issue can energize GOP voters, even those who are 2,000 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Offering some of his sharpest contrasts yet with Trump, the GOP primary’s early front-runner, DeSantis suggested that he’d wall off the entire border and not come up short like the former president did.“We’re actually going to build the wall,” DeSantis said. “A lot of politicians...

Prigozhin has moved to Belarus, and Russia won’t press charges for mutiny

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:31 GMT

By The Associated PressYevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the private army of prison recruits and other mercenaries who have fought some of the deadliest battles in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, escaped prosecution for his abortive armed rebellion against the Kremlin and is in Belarus, that country’s president said Tuesday.The exile of the 62-year-old owner of the Wagner Group was part of a deal that ended the short-lived mutiny in Russia. President Alexander Lukashenko said Prigozhin and some of his troops are welcome to stay in Belarus “for some time” at their own expense.Prigozhin has not been seen since Saturday, when he waved to well-wishers from a vehicle in the southern city of Rostov. He issued a defiant audio statement on Monday. And on Tuesday morning, a private jet believed to belong to him flew from Rostov to an air base southwest of the Belarusian capital of Minsk, according to data from FlightRadar24.Meanwhile, preparations were underway for WagnerR...

No bail: Newton man arraigned in connection to triple homicide

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:31 GMT

Newton local Christopher Ferguson was held without bail on charges in connection to the triple homicide of elderly residents in their home Sunday at his arraignment in Newton District court Tuesday afternoon.Ferguson, 41, was arrested late Monday night in connection with the deaths of Bruce D’Amore, 74, Gilda “Jill” D’Amore, 73 and Lucia Arpino, 97, who were found stabbed and beaten to death in their Nonantum home Sunday morning.Ferguson is charged with murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and burglary and is expected to be brought up on two additional murder charges once the autopsies on the two remaining victims are completed.The defendant appeared in the courtroom on Zoom, after the arraignment was delayed several times through the morning and into the afternoon.He pleaded not guilty to the charges. Defense attorney Dmitry Lev did not contest the prosecution’s request to hold the defendant without bail and was granted a request to allo...

Mayo Clinic Minute: Reducing the risks of sexually transmitted infections

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:31 GMT

Deb Balzer | Mayo Clinic News Network (TNS)Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continue to rise the in the U.S and around the globe. The World Health Organization reports more than 1 million new sexually transmitted infections are acquired a day — with the majority of them asymptomatic.Dr. Stacey Rizza, an infectious diseases physician with Mayo Clinic, says there are many reasons for the continued rise in sexually transmitted infections in the last few years. She says educating people is crucial and an important step in reducing the risks of sexually transmitted infections, which can have long-lasting health effects on the individual as well as society.“We’ve seen the rate of many sexually transmitted infections going up in the last few years, particularly syphilis,” says Dr. Rizza.Syphilis, like chlamydia and gonorrhea, are bacterial infections and can be treated with antibiotics. These medications won’t help viral infections, like hepatitis B, HIV and herpes. And n...

1 person shot in City Heights

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:31 GMT

SAN DIEGO — One person was shot Tuesday morning in the City Heights neighborhood, police say.The shooting happened around 11 a.m. in the area near 40th and Thorn streets, according to San Diego police.The victim was taken to Scripps Mercy Hospital. Their status is not known at this time. 3 Camp Pendleton Marines among 4 dead in fiery crash on I-5 Officials have blocked off 40th Street from Thorn Street to Redwood Street as they investigate the incident.Police did not immediately release any information regarding a suspect in the shooting.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Klimt painting sets European record with $108 million price tag at Sotheby’s auction in London

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:31 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A late-life masterpiece by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt sold Tuesday for 85.3 million pounds ($108.4 million), making it the most expensive artwork ever auctioned in Europe.“Dame mit Fächer” — Lady with a Fan — sold to a buyer in the room at Sotheby’s in London after a 10-minute bidding war for a hammer price of 74 million pounds ($94.35 million). The higher final figure includes a charge on top of the sale price known as the buyer’s premium.The sale price well exceeded the presale estimate of 65 million pounds, or $80 million.It also beat the previous European auction record of $104.3 million — 65 million pounds at the time — including buyer’s premium paid for Alberto Giacometti’s sculpture “Walking Man I” at Sotheby’s in 2010. Previously, the most expensive painting auctioned in Europe was Claude Monet’s “Le basin aux nymphéas,” which fetched $80.4 million at a Christie’s sale in 2008.The piece sold Tuesday was the last portrait Klimt completed befo...

Florida ramps up mosquito control efforts due to 4 cases of locally contracted malaria

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:31 GMT

TERRA CEIA ISLAND, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Department of Health has issued a statewide mosquito-borne illness advisory after four locally contracted cases of malaria were reported along the Gulf Coast south of Tampa.On Monday, a health alert issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also noted that another case has been detected in Texas, marking the first time there has been a local spread of malaria in the United States in 20 years.The four residents in Sarasota County received treatment and have recovered, according to the state’s Department of Health advisory. Malaria, caused by a parasite that spreads through bites from Anopheles mosquitoes, causes fever, chills, sweats, nausea and vomiting, and headaches. It is not spread person to person.It’s the threat of the mosquito-borne illness that concerns Kathleen Gibson-Dee, who lives on Terra Ceia Island, which is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Sarasota County. Even though no malaria cases have be...