By JEFF REINITZ – Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa (TNS) CEDAR FALLS — A Denver caregiver has been arrested for allegedly using her Cedar Falls clients’ credit cards for personal expenses. Cedar Falls police arrested Rachael Lynn Nicklaus, 38, on Dec. 20 for three counts of felony dependent adult abuse, two counts each of identity theft
Continue Reading By Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa (TNS) WATERLOO — Waterloo Community Schools has named Charletta Sudduth director of equity, inclusion and belonging effective July 1. She will succeed Gina Weekley, who is relocating out of state with her family. Weekley will hold the position through June. Sudduth currently serves as the district’s pre-K administrator. That role
Continue Reading By MARIA KUIPER – Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa (TNS) TRIPOLI — A natural sanctuary now looks like a graveyard after bird flu has spread through its waterfowl. Sweet Marsh bird flu 02 Dead trumpeter swans litter the ice of Sweet Marsh in Bremer County. Sweet Marsh, a wetland northeast of Tripoli, welcomes Canada geese, trumpeter
Continue Reading By Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa (TNS) Each December, Courier reporters look back at their favorite stories of the past year. We ask them to pick their favorites: not necessarily the biggest stories of the year, just the ones they found most interesting. Here are some of Andy Milone’s favorite Cedar Valley stories of 2024. Some
Continue Reading By Eduardo Castillo – The Wichita Eagle (TNS) Dec. 26—A man and a cat were killed Christmas night when a duplex in Derby caught on fire. Officials have not yet released the identity of the man, who was in his 70s. He lived in the duplex with one other person, who wasn’t home at the
Continue Reading By Taylor Eldridge – The Wichita Eagle (TNS) Dec. 26—The Wichita State men’s basketball team is the best in the country at something it seemingly has no control over. No team can boast a better free-throw defense through Christmas than the Shockers, who rank No. 1 nationally with opponents shooting just 58.2% at the foul
Continue Reading By St. Joseph News-Press, Mo. (TNS) Dec. 26—The Kansas Highway Patrol reports that two individuals are injured and one is dead after a two-vehicle crash in Doniphan County, Kansas, on Christmas day. According to the KHP report at approximately 8:41 a.m. on Dec. 25, one vehicle was driving north on Kansas Highway Seven while the
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By The Associated Press Americans still dreaming of a really big Christmas present can keep that dream alive during Friday’s Mega Millions drawing for a jackpot worth an estimated $1.15 billion. Friday’s jackpot will potentially be the fifth largest in the game’s history. Mega Millions tickets are $2 a piece. But the odds of winning
Continue Reading By Tom Barton – The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa (TNS) Dec. 26—The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. A semi truck collided with a train near Amana Thursday morning, temporarily blocking a busy highway. Authorities said no one was injured, and traffic was detoured around the crash site.
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By Cameron Montemayor Sheri Gray remembers a time when she was one of, if not the only, Special Olympics coaches in the St. Joseph area 15 years ago. “So much has changed,” she said. “At first, you know, there might be 30 people at a St. Joe event … But now there’s 150. It’s great.”
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By AP PHOENIX (AP) — A shooting at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix left two people injured by gunfire and another person stabbed in an incident related to a family dispute, police say. Phoenix police said the shooting happened at about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday at an airport restaurant located outside the security checkpoints in Terminal
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By MELISSA GOLDIN – Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A taxi driver whose car hit six pedestrians when he jumped a curb in a Manhattan shopping district on Christmas Day was having a medical episode at the time, New York City police said Thursday. Two of those hurt are Australians, according to that country’s
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By ALEX VEIGA – AP Business Writer Stock indexes drifted to a mixed finish on Wall Street Thursday, as some heavyweight technology and communications sector stocks offset gains elsewhere in the market. The S&P 500 fell less than 0.1% after spending the day wavering between small gains and losses. The tiny loss ended the benchmark
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By CARLA K. JOHNSON – AP Medical Writer The death of an Oregon house cat and a pet food recall are raising questions about the ongoing outbreak of bird flu and how people can protect their pets. Bird flu has been spreading for years in wild birds, chickens, turkeys and many other animals. It was
Continue Reading By CHARLES MANGWIRO – Associated Press MAPUTO, Mozambique. (AP) — At least 6,000 inmates escaped from a high-security prison in Mozambique’s capital on Christmas Day after a rebellion, the country’s police chief said, as widespread post-election riots and violence are roiling the country. Police chief Bernardino Rafael said 33 prisoners died and 15 others were
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By JOSEF FEDERMAN – Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s attorney general has ordered police to open an investigation into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife on suspicion of harassing political opponents and a witness in the Israeli leader’s corruption trial. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara made the announcement in a terse message late Thursday, saying the
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By Cameron Montemayor Sheri Gray remembers a time when she was one of, if not the only, Special Olympics coaches, in the St. Joseph area 15 years ago. “So much has changed,” she said. “At first, you know, there might be 30 people at a St. Joe event … But now there’s 150. It’s great.”
Continue Reading By The Manhattan Mercury, Kan. (TNS) Dec. 26—A cyber attack targeting Ascension Via Christi hospitals, including the one in Manhattan, in May impacted about 5.6 million people, the company reported to federal regulators. Ascension officials said they’re working with third-party experts to investigate the personal information that may have been compromised and, over the next
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By The Associated Press A wave of Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen’s main airport Thursday just as the World Health Organization’s director-general said he was about to board a flight there. One of the U.N. plane’s crew was wounded, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X. The Israeli military said it attacked
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By AP DALLAS (AP) — Some flights were delayed or canceled in Texas on Thursday after a line of thunderstorms started moving across parts of the state in a system the National Weather Service predicted could bring high winds, hail and possible tornadoes. More than 100 flights were delayed and dozens more canceled at Dallas
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By LARRY NEUMEISTER – Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez asked a federal judge on Thursday to delay his end-of-January sentencing on bribery charges and acting as an agent of the Egyptian government, saying his family would suffer a “tremendous emotional toll” if the New Jersey Democrat were sentenced during
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By Taco Cabana SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The countdown to 2025 just got tastier! Taco Cabana is kicking off the new year with a showstopping lineup of bold, flavorful menu items designed to wow your taste buds. Starting Thursday, January 2, 2025, join us as we celebrate the new year with a menu that’s
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By COLLEEN SLEVIN – Associated Press DENVER (AP) — A 7-year-old boy who died in a shooting that left 24 bullet holes in a home on a tribal reservation in Colorado was lying next to his father in bed when he was hit, according to court documents unsealed Thursday. Zackieus Lang told investigators that his
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By Cameron Montemayor Whether it’s arriving early or staying late for her fellow nurses or patients, going above and beyond for others is simply in Christie Amos’ nature. As a patient care representative with Mosaic Life Care’s Cardiac Cath Lab, Amos offers a calming voice for patients through prep and recovery for various procedures like
Continue Reading By Christopher Braunschweig – Newton Daily News, Iowa (TNS) Dec. 26—Disagreements over the allocation of funding for various partner agencies have reared their ugly head once again at the City of Newton’s budget workshops. While city staff has recommended the bare minimum of assign funds for HIRTA and the Des Moines Airport’s expansion project, the
Continue Reading By Cheyenne Roche – The Creston News Advertiser, Iowa (TNS) Dec. 26—”Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” — Allen Saunders Well life hit us pretty hard these past few months. For weeks, it felt like every sign in the universe was pointing us toward moving to Dubuque — a
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By DEEPA BHARATH and JESSIE WARDARSKI – Associated Press The Native American Church is considered the most widespread religious movement among the Indigenous people of North America. It holds sacred the peyote cactus, which grows naturally only in some parts of southern Texas and northern Mexico. Peyote has been used spiritually in ceremonies, and as
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By AP ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Large fossil fuel companies would have to pay fees to help New York fight the effects of climate change under a bill signed Thursday by Gov. Kathy Hochul. The new law requires companies responsible for substantial greenhouse gas emissions to pay into a state fund for infrastructure projects meant
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By Nicole Scott Colonel Eric T. Olsen, the Superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol announced on Thursday afternoon that he will be retiring effective Feb. 1. Colonel Olsen is the 24th Superintendent of the MSHP and has put 34-years into the state agency. “I appreciate the support and friendships I have made across the
Continue Reading By Globe Gazette, Mason City, Iowa (TNS) The Clear Lake Fire Department extinguished a blaze on Christmas Eve afternoon at a 2 1/2 story detached garage at 1019 S. Eighth St. Firefighters arrived at the scene shortly before 2 p.m. and found the garage was fully involved in flames, according to a press release from
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