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Louisiana refinery fire mostly contained but residents worry about air quality

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

GARYVILLE, La. (AP) — Crews were still working to suppress flare-ups Saturday as a fire at a Louisiana oil refinery burned for a second day along the banks of the Mississippi River, while residents worried about health effects from the fumes and black smoke.Tests have so far found “non-detectable air quality impacts” from Friday’s massive fire, Marathon Patroleum said in a emailed statement Saturday. The state Department of Environmental Quality and a third-party contractor were conducing the tests.The company said two people were injured and 10 others evaluated for heat stress. The fire damaged two giant storage tanks for naphtha, a component in the production of gasoline and jet fuels.On Friday, orange flames belched a column of thick smoke over the facility in Garyville, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of New Orleans, forcing residents of the mostly rural area to evacuate within a 2-mile (3-kilometer) radius. “You look outside your house and the sky is black,” Hila...

A fire at a fueling station in Romania causes 2 explosions, killing at least 1 and injuring dozens

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A fire at a fueling station in Romania caused an explosion that killed at least one person and injured at least eight others Saturday, prompting an evacuation of the immediate area, authorities said. A second explosion at the station injured at least 26 firefighters, emergency officials said.The explosions happened at a fueling station that provides liquefied petroleum gas, a fuel used in household appliances and as a gasoline and diesel alternative in some vehicles. They took place in the town of Crevedia, around 30 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of Romania’s capital, Bucharest. Romania’s health minister, Alexandru Rafila, confirmed to local media that one person had died. Several burn victims had been transported to hospitals in Bucharest for treatment, at least one of whom suffered extensive injuries, he said. Romanian emergency rescue service SMURD said in a press release that a second explosion took place shortly after the first one. The h...

Cohen on Georgia bookings: If any co-defendants turn on Trump, it's 'destruction for the rest'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

(The Hill) – Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen warned that there's a serious risk to the former president that his co-defendants could cooperate with Georgia prosecutors.Trump and 18 other defendants were charged in a broad racketeering case in Georgia this month, alleging that the former president led a scheme to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.“If any one of them ends up turning, it’s destruction for the rest,” Cohen said in an MSNBC interview Saturday.Cohen himself turned on Trump, cooperating with New York prosecutors investigating falsified business records related to hush money payments for Trump’s alleged affairs. Once one of the former president’s closest confidants, he has since become one of his loudest critics.The former attorney had a message for the co-defendants — especially Trump’s attorneys Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, and his former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.“Donald doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t care about you one bit," he argued. "He wil...

Gov. Greg Abbott sends resources to help combat fires in Louisiana

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

AUSTIN (TEXAS) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday he would send resources to Louisiana to help combat a large, destructive fire burning in the Beauregard Parish, near the Texas-Louisiana border, as well as other fires burning across the state.The blaze in the Beauregard Parish – called the Tiger Island Fire – has already burned 23 square miles, which is more acres burned than the state typically sees in an entire year, according to the Associated Press. As of Friday, Louisiana officials were fighting an additional 20 more fires across the state, according to AP. Abbott said he has deployed 89 firefighters, paramedics and emergency management personnel along with emergency response resources to help firefighters in Louisiana. “Just as the State of Louisiana offered their support and assistance during Hurricane Harvey six years ago, Texas is swiftly providing the personnel and resources our neighbors need to combat these destructive wildfires impacting their state. Wh...

Jaren Hall gets full game under his belt, Vikings fall 18-17 to Cardinals in preseason finale

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

Vikings rookie quarterback Jaren Hall has come a long way over the past few weeks.After struggling to call plays in the huddle in the preseason opener against the Seattle Seahawks, Hall played the entirety of the preseason finale against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium. He completed 17 of 28 passes for 178 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.His effort wasn’t enough for the Vikings in the end, though, and they lost 18-17 to the Arizona Cardinals after leading for most of the game.That dropped head coach Kevin O’Connell to 0-6 in preseason games since taking over in Minnesota before the 2022 season. His exhibition record makes some sense considering O’Connell believes in keeping his starters in bubble wrap ahead of the regular season.Shortly after the Vikings went through warmups, it became apparent that Hall was going to get a lot of playing time. Not only was starting quarterback Kirk Cousins spotted on the sideline with...

Seven spots no longer serving as St. Louis-area malls

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Online shopping has contributed to the gradual decline of traditional shopping malls in the 21st century, and several spots in the St. Louis area reflect that harsh reality. In the past few decades, at least seven spots that once served as bustling shopping malls in the St. Louis City or St. Louis County have shut down mall operations. Depending on interpretation, some of these might even be considered "dead malls," due to high vacancy rates, low consumer traffic, or deterioration. Some malls around St. Louis have taken on new life with scaled-down retail or non-retail operations. Others have come down or are expected to soon come down for good. Inspired by a similar Riverfront Times article, FOX 2 takes a closer look into seven malls not forgotten, but no longer serving the St. Louis area as malls.Crestwood CourtOpened: 1957Closed: 2013Municipality: Crestwood, MissouriThe first regional mall in the St. Louis area, Crestwood Court was once home to six different anchors (...

Thomas Saggese: The new Cardinals prospect who doesn't stop hitting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Though the St. Louis Cardinals loaded up on pitching prospects at this year's trade deadline, one young hitter involved in the frenzy is making quite a statement. Thomas Saggese, a 21-year-old shortstop, was one of three players acquired in a deal that sent Jordan Montgomery to the Texas Rangers last month. Thomas Saggese (Photo provided by: Chris Pinson/KOLR)His early returns with the Double-A Springfield Cardinals offer plenty of promise and hope for a possible big-league promotion next year.In less than a month with Springfield, Saggese is hitting .366 with nine home runs, 20 RBI and 19 runs scored. To further paint the picture of his surge:Saggese has picked up at least one hit in all but four of his first 22 games as a Cardinals farmhand. Saggese has nine multi-hit games with Springfield. Saggese delivered his first minor-league cycle last Saturday, one of just two for Cardinals prospects over the past decade. Saggese has 145 hits at the Double-A level this y...

PHOTOS: Publicist says game show host Bob Barker has died

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

A publicist says popular game show host Bob Barker, a household name for a half-century as host of “Truth or Consequences” and “The Price Is Right,” has died at his home in Los Angeles. Barker was 99.

Tenth bus of migrants from Texas arrives in Los Angeles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

The tenth bus full of migrants arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday morning. According to a release from the L.A. Welcomes Collective – which is a network of immigrant rights and legal services providers, faith organizations, and city and county officials – the bus arrived at Union Station just after 11 a.m. from Brownsville, Texas and included 12 families, among them 21 children and 19 adults. The youngest members of the group are a 5-month-old boy and a set of twins under the age of two, the L.A. Welcomes Collective said. The oldest member of the group is 52 years old. The asylum seekers are from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Peru and Venezuela. Spokespeople for organizations that comprise the L.A. Welcomes Collective – which include the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and the Central American Resource Center of Los Angeles (CARECEN) among others – said that each bus with migrants is treated with open arms, and th...

Bay Area software CEO pleads guilty to tax, pandemic relief fraud

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

A Dublin man who served as CEO of multiple Bay Area software companies has been sentenced to two years in prison after failing to pay millions of dollars in employment taxes and defrauding the COVID-19 relief paycheck program.Kishore Kethineni pleaded guilty in February to tax evasion and conspiracy, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, Ismail Ramsey. Court documents showed that Kethineni collected more than $2 million in employment taxes from his employees but did not pay them to the government. He also fraudulently obtained $3.1 million under the federal Paycheck Protection Program.Kethineni was the owner of four software companies involved in the scheme: BiteGate, Dinenamics, Neelinfo, and TechPMC. Federal authorities said his brothers also owned three other companies involved: Boxstertech, Hiretechforce, and TechGlobalSystems.Each of the businesses were small consulting and software companies.Between April 2020 and May 2021, Ram...