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5 hurt after fire at Houston-area Shell petrochemical plant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

DEER PARK, Texas (AP) — Fire erupted at a petrochemical plant in the Houston area Friday, leaving five workers hospitalized and sending up a huge plume of smoke visible for miles.The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said the fire was at a Shell USA Inc. facility in Deer Park, a suburb east of Houston.Law enforcement received a call to help divert traffic around the plant just after 3 p.m., Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Thomas Gilliland said. The city of Deer Park said in an advisory that there was no shelter-in-place order for residents.Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a tweet that the fire was caused by a “heat exchange between two heavy gas oils,” but that the fire has since been contained and been diminished. Gonzalez said five contract workers were transported to a hospital “for precautionary reasons, largely due to heat.”Shell was conducting their own air quality monitoring, but the city has yet to receive an update, said Kaitlyn Bluejacket, a spokesperson for the cit...

Father of baseball player arrested for punching 63-year-old umpire, sheriff says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

(CNN) — A father has been charged after punching a 63-year-old umpire during a high school baseball game in central Florida, authorities said.During a game on April 18 at Liberty High School in Kissimmee, the father of a player approached the umpire — a disabled veteran — and “knocked him out” after an argument between the official and a player, Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez said at a news conference Wednesday.The sucker punch and the umpire’s fall were recorded by surveillance video released by the sheriff’s office. People quickly rush to the spot, with one upset player throwing his helmet as the alleged attacker walks away, it shows.Jorge Aponte Gonzalez, 41, faces charges of battery on a sports official and disruption of a school function, a sheriff’s office arrest warrant shows.Gonzalez left the area after he punched the umpire and was arrested Wednesday, more than two weeks after the game, Lopez said. Gon...

Boston police make arrest in connection with Jamaica Plain robberies at knifepoint

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

Boston police have arrested a man in connection with a pair of robberies at knifepoint at cell phone stores in Jamaica Plain late last month, police announced. Boston police said Boston officers working with state police and members of the US Marshals Office arrested Akeem Lahens, 32, of Dorchester around 2:40 p.m. Friday. Lahens is now facing charges including armed robbery and kidnapping linked to the Jamaica Plain robberies on April 26 and April 27, officials said. 7NEWS previously spoke with people who work at the stores, who described their experiences. “He said ‘Don’t play dumb man. I’m not having a good day. Don’t do anything stupid. I don’t want to kill you man,’” Emmanuel Sanchez said of a man he said robbed him while wielding two knives on April 27 at a Cricket Wireless store on Centre Street. The robbery Sanchez described happened 24 hours after workers said a man showed two knives while robbing a nearby Boost Mobile store. Store manager Ashl...

Katharine Lusk tapped to lead Boston Planning Advisory Council

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

Katharine Lusk was hired as the first executive director of the Boston Planning Advisory Council, effectively kickstarting the work of a body created more than three months ago, through an executive order signed by Mayor Michelle Wu.Lusk will make $150,000 at the helm of a committee of city department heads, brought together to help advise the mayor, as she works to carry out the sweeping planning and development changes announced this past January, in her State of the City address.“I am delighted to be working with Katharine as we change the way we plan our city together, ensuring alignment among each division of our city to best plan for our future,” Chief of Planning Arthur Jemison said in a statement.Wu, who announced the hire on Friday, said in a statement that Lusk’s “decades of experience across the public and private sectors and track record of creating new models for engagement and planning will be an important part of our work to ensure that Boston is a city for everyone.”...

Yankees Notebook: Carlos Rodon to receive back injection

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

ST. PETERSBURG — Gerrit Cole and other Yankees pitchers lit up with joy when Carlos Rodon walked into the team’s clubhouse at Tropicana Field on Friday.Rodon, the Yankees’ biggest offseason addition, has been sidelined since sustaining a left forearm strain early in spring training. But lately, a nagging mid-back issue has been delaying his return.The Yankees starter will receive a cortisone-like injection for his nagging back early next week. Rodon and the team sought three opinions on the matter, and all agreed this was the best course of action.“I think it’ll be better in the long run,” Rodon said before the Yanks’ series opener against the Rays, “and I’ll be better coming out of it.”Rodon added that he’s never dealt with something like this before, but doctors called his back issue “a chronic thing’ following scans.“For some reason, now is when it wants to act out,” he said.Rodon’s ba...

Mets Notebook: Carlos Carrasco’s rehab delayed by stomach virus

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

Carlos Carrasco’s return to action is being delayed by a stomach virus. The right-hander was set to go on a rehab assignment this weekend but it’s been pushed back while he deals with the illness.The 36-year-old Carrasco has been dealing with bone spurs in his right elbow and had a cortisone shot to alleviate the pain and inflammation while the Mets were in California nearly two weeks ago, which seems to have had its intended effect. Carrasco has reached the stage in his rehab where he is ready to get back into a game but the Mets still aren’t sure when or where that will occur.“There’s still some thought about him pitching tomorrow,” manager Buck Showalter said Friday afternoon before the Mets opened a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies. “But if you asked me today, that would be in jeopardy.”The club is optimistic that he can make that start Sunday. The location and affiliate club will be determined by the weather. Rain is...

Charles Tillman pushes the Chicago Bears into rookie minicamp with a motivational message: ‘Run to criticism’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

For the second consecutive spring, Chicago Bears coach Matt Eberflus brought Charles Tillman to Halas Hall to offer an orientation address in advance of rookie minicamp. Tillman, whose 13-season NFL career began 20 years ago as a wide-eyed, unproven rookie defensive back, made a point to emphasize the survival skills needed in this cutthroat world.Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, whom the Bears traded up to select in Round 2 last week, grabbed a nugget from Tillman that packed a punch.“Run to criticism,” Stevenson said. “I definitely was enlightened by that because it gave me an opportunity to realize that criticism is there to help. Not everybody is going to love you. You’re not put in the world for that. But I’m going to be the best me that I can and take the criticism and grow as a person and as a man.”Bears rookie Zacch Pickens, a third-round pick out of South Carolina, also kept his ears open and appreciated some of the insight Tillman imparted....

‘Worst coach ever’? Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla clarifies hot mic remark

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — After finishing up a quick press conference via Zoom on Thursday afternoon, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla stood up before making an unusual comment about himself.“I am the worst coach ever,” Mazzulla said.The hot mic comment was picked up, and it went viral.Before Friday night’s Game 3 at Wells Fargo Center, Mazzulla clarified the remark.The Celtics had just gone through a film session prior to Thursday’s press conference, when Mazzulla was asked by a reporter about Marcus Smart winning the NBA Hustle Award. It was then that Mazzulla realized he had forgotten to recognize Smart for the accomplishment.“We had just got back from film and I missed an opportunity to show appreciation to one of our guys, so time with the guys is sacred in film,” Mazzulla said. “I had just been informed that Smart won the NBA Hustle Award, and we went through an entire film session and I didn’t show my appreciation for him. I think someone here asked me about it and my eyes lit up. I was like,...

Las Vegas boy on life support in San Diego after serious crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) - A Las Vegas family is asking the community for help bringing their 6-year-old boy home after a crash in California left him seriously hurt."Everybody loved him," Moses Sanchez said of his son, Ian. "It was impossible not to love him."Sanchez and Ian's mother Jocelyn Rodriguez told 8 News Now everything they love about him Wednesday.Ian Sanchez, 6, of Las Vegas on life support after a car crash in California on Monday, May 1, 2023. (Photo credit: Moses Sanchez)"He was the littlest person in the room," Sanchez said. "But he would make himself appear as the biggest person."The 6-year-old Las Vegas boy is now on life support at a San Diego hospital after the worst happened on the way home from a family vacation."The boy that we knew and loved," Sanchez said. "He's not there no more."Sanchez said they were driving on Interstate 215 in Murrieta, California, near Temecula early Monday morning when Sanchez said they hit a driver that had crashed into a wall.The family tol...

Highest-rated restaurants for burgers in San Diego, according to Yelp

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

SAN DIEGO — There's something about a hamburger. The way juices from the freshly grilled meat gently dribble down your chin as you take that first bite into the succulent patty, seasoned to perfection. Something about the way the cheese curves along the sides, melting slowly over the ground-beef goodness placed gently between two buns. While that certain something may always defy definition—what can be said for certain is that America, and what seems like the world, loves hamburgers.Named after Hamburg, a region in Germany known for its cattle, the Hamburg steak was the first step toward what would become the sandwich we know and love today. Served on a plate (sans buns if you can believe it), the steak was said to have become popular during the Industrial Revolution after an influx of German immigrants into New York. In order to make the food easier to consume for the workers on their breaks, a now unknown cook sandwiched the steak between two pieces of bread, and the rest as they ...