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The Menino family toy drive celebrates 30 years: More than 300 families receive gifts on Christmas Eve

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

The annual Menino family toy drive celebrated 30 years on Sunday, as more than 300 families received gifts on Christmas Eve.In honor of Boston’s late Mayor Thomas M. Menino, city leaders, community members and institutional partners joined the Menino family and marked the 30th year of giving to neighbors in the Bowdoin-Geneva area of the city.The toy drive on Sunday distributed gifts to more than 300 families at the Catholic Charities Teen Center at St. Peter’s in Dorchester.Dorchester’s Shanya Dos Santos smiles with Santa at the 30th year of the Menino annual toy drive held at Catholic Charities Teen Center in Dorchester on Sunday. (Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald)Milford’s Lily Falarano takes a quick break from volunteering after the rush at the toy drive. (Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald)Dorchester’s 4-year-old Eros Da Silva smiles as he carries the large bag of gifts he picked up from the toy drive. (Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald)Canton̵...

Minor earthquakes rattle Hawaii’s Big Island, Puget Sound area, with no damage reported

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

Hundreds of people reported feeling minor earthquakes of similar intensity on Hawaii’s Big Island and on the Olympic Peninsula northwest of Seattle, but no damage was reported.The earthquakes Saturday afternoon in Hawaii and Sunday morning in Washington state were over 2,600 miles (4,200 kilometers) apart and apparently unrelated.A magnitude 4.1 quake struck around 4:30 p.m. Saturday nine miles (14 kilometers) southwest of Volcano off the southeastern coast of the island of Hawaii.The quake was too small to generate a tsunami, according to the National Weather Service U.S. Tsunami Warning System.However, dozens reported feeling it through the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake was in the area of Kilauea, a volcano that erupted for several weeks before quieting in September.Shortly after 7 a.m. Sunday, dozens more people in the Puget Sound area reported feeling a magnitude 4.0 quake centered on the northeastern Olympic Peninsula 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Seattle.A ma...

Thousands join migrant caravan in Mexico ahead of Secretary of State Blinken’s visit to the capital

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — A sprawling caravan of migrants from Central America, Venezuela, Cuba and other countries trekked through Mexico on Sunday, heading toward the U.S. border. The procession came just days before Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Mexico City to hammer out new agreements to control the surge of migrants seeking entry into the United States.The caravan, estimated at around 6,000 people, many of them families with young children, is the largest in more than a year, a clear indication that joint efforts by the Biden administration and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s government to deter migration are falling short. The Christmas Eve caravan departed from the city of Tapachula, near the country’s southern border with Guatemala. Security forces looked on in what appeared to be a repeat of past tactics when authorities waited for the marchers to tire out and then offered them a form of temporary legal status that is used by many to contin...

Police in Serbia fire tear gas at election protesters threatening to storm capital’s city hall

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Police in Serbia fired tear gas to prevent hundreds of opposition supporters from entering the capital’s city council building Sunday in protest of what election observers said were widespread vote irregularities during a general election last weekend. The country’s populist authorities have denied rigging the vote. President Aleksandar Vucic said Sunday that those claims were blatant ”lies” promoted by the political opposition. Shielded riot police barricaded themselves inside Belgrade’s city hall, firing tear gas as hundreds of opposition protesters broke windows on the entrance of the downtown building.The protesters shouted “Open the door” and “Thieves,” as they also pelted the building with eggs. Some chanted “Vucic is Putin,” comparing the Serbian president with Russia’s leader.There were no immediate reports of injuries.The Associated Press

Three men shot in New Orleans’ French Quarter

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Three men were shot and wounded early Sunday in New Orleans’ French Quarter. The New Orleans Police Department said the gunfire rang out at 2:09 a.m. at an intersection in the busy neighborhood frequented by tourists, WVUE-TV reported. Two of the men were shot in the legs and a third was shot in the back.Police said the shooting began after a fight between the men who were shot and a fourth man. It was not immediately clear whether police had identified or apprehended the shooter.The group separated initially, but the fourth man followed the others and another argument began, police told the news outlet. The fourth man then took out a gun and fired at the other three men. The shooting victims were transported to a hospital for treatment. Police did not disclose the ages of the men or the status of their condition. The Associated Press

Evictions ‘catastrophic’ for B.C. seniors who lose affordable homes: seniors advocate

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

VICTORIA — British Columbia seniors who face eviction from long-term, affordable rental housing face “catastrophic” consequences and a growing number of older residents are at risk of becoming homeless, says the province’s seniors advocate. Everyone deserves to be adequately housed, Isobel Mackenzie said in an interview with The Canadian Press, but she noted the growing need for homes earmarked for seniors has become particularly dire for those with low, fixed incomes during what should be their golden years. Data compiled and released by Metro Vancouver this month show the BC Housing wait-list for social housing has 18,865 households on it, with seniors and families in most need. That’s a 27 per cent jump from 2022, and although the BC Housing wait-list doesn’t provide the full picture across the province for social housing needs, the increase doesn’t surprise Mackenzie.  She said as more people retire and start collecting old age security, Canad...

Officer hosts annual toy giveaway on Christmas Eve

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — For 15 years, Chicago Police Department Officer Daliah Goree Keys has hosted a giveaway.It's an off-duty extension of on-duty service that began covering the Englewood district. 10th annual ‘Breakfast with Santa’ takes place in Garfield Park "We started off small," Goree Keys said. "What happened is that we started to get close to the women in the shelter and so we just picked up the idea that we would do Christmas every year for the women and it just went from shelters to out on the streets to my pastor opened his doors."The event is now a tradition and much larger.On Christmas Eve, 2,000 donated toys were given away at APC Morgan Park to hundreds of kids. "We want them to pick what they want, just to tell the parents to stand back and let them pick what they want cause that's what they want to play with," Goree Keys said. "And we tell them Santa brought it. Santa's out in the air so Mrs. Claus is coming to help Santa." Northwest Side church hosts Christmas party for ...

Why do we leave milk and cookies out for Santa?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

(WHTM) -- Leaving milk and cookies out for Santa Claus before going to bed on Christmas Eve is a tradition for many families. Santa isn't very picky as he will eat any cookie and drink any milk, but why do we leave milk and cookies out for Santa?According to Rent-A-Christmas, there are three theories behind this Christmas tradition:The Dutch ConnectionIn the past, the Netherlands would celebrate Christmas on Dec. 6. So on Dec. 5, the kids would leave out their shoes and wake up to their shoes being filled with treats. This would change over time and eventually lead to children leaving out cookies and milk for Santa instead.The Great Depression ConnectionIn a time when many families struggled, Christmas was a bright spot. The families would ask their children to leave out milk and cookies for Santa to thank him for bringing gifts.The Dairy ConnectionSimilar to the Christmas Pickle tradition, this theory mentions that leaving milk and cookies out for Santa was a marketing ploy. The da...

What fast food places, restaurants will be open for Christmas 2023?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – If you’re traveling home for the holidays and need a road snack, or are searching for last-minute meal after a Christmas Day cooking mishap, you likely already know your options will be limited. Though many restaurants will close for the holiday, there are some that will still be open on December 25. To save you the trouble of searching for those eateries, here is a list of the major fast-food chains and restaurants staying open — and a few that are closing — for Christmas 2023.Hours may vary by location; it’s best to check online or call ahead to confirm your location’s hours. Arby’s: Many locations will be open for Christmas, a representative for Arby’s tells Nexstar, but hours may vary. You can check your location’s hours online.Burger King: Because Burger King restaurants are individually owned, they may be open for Christmas with varying hours, a representative tells Nexstar. You can find local restaurant hours here. Denny’s: The “always open” diner w...

CLEAT: Officer-involved shooting in Bastrop County this weekend

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

BASTROP COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) -- Bastrop County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a disturbance call that turned into an officer-involved shooting this weekend, according to the executive director of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas.CLEAT's Charley Wilkison said in a social media post Sunday an armed suspect fired at BCSO deputies responding to a 911 call. Wilkison said in the post the incident was an officer-involved shooting.All deputies involved are okay and the suspect has been hospitalized, per his post. In an email to KXAN, Bastrop Police Chief Vicky Steffanic confirmed no officer-involved shooting happened within Bastrop's city limits.KXAN has reached out to the Bastrop County Sheriff's Office for more information involving the incident. This story will be updated once a response has been received.