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Florida citrus forecast improves over last year when hurricanes hit state

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:25 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The forecast for Florida citrus, the state’s signature crop, is expected to improve in the upcoming season compared to last year when twin hurricanes battered the state at the start of the citrus season, according to estimates released Thursday.Florida is expected to produce 20.5 million boxes of oranges during the upcoming season, up from 15.8 million boxes last season, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.Florida growers are expected to harvest 1.9 million boxes of grapefruit during the 2023-2024 season, which lasts through next spring, up from 1.8 million boxes last season.The production of tangerines and mandarins also was forecast to be up, going from 480,000 boxes last season to an expected 500,000 boxes in the upcoming season.Florida had been the leading producer of oranges in the U.S. until last season when the state was battered by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole. California surpassed the Sunshine State in orange production.The decline in orange pr...

Israel-Hamas war: UK readies navy in eastern Mediterranean to ‘prevent escalation’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:25 GMT

LONDON — U.K. military assets including surveillance aircraft and naval patrols will be deployed in the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel, Rishi Sunak announced Thursday evening.No. 10 Downing Street said that Royal Air Force aircraft will on Friday begin patrols to track threats to stability in the region, while a navy “task group” — including two Royal Navy ships — will be moved to the eastern Mediterranean to assist with humanitarian efforts. The British government said the military package is intended to prevent escalation and hammer home its support for Israel. Sunak has declared repeatedly that the U.K. “stands with Israel” and offered unequivocal support, since Hamas’ surprise attacks on Saturday.“Alongside our allies, deployment of our world class military will support efforts to ensure regional stability and prevent further escalation,” the prime minister said in a statement.“Our military and diplomatic teams across the region ...

Lieutenant Governor Driscoll Warns Mass. Shelters “Definitely At Capacity”

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:25 GMT

Massachusetts is going to run out of places to shelter newly arriving immigrants and other families without housing “very, very soon,” leaving the one state in the country that has a legal obligation to shelter unhoused families in a position where “there is not going to be literally any room at the inn,” Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said Thursday morning.Driscoll said Thursday morning that Massachusetts has almost 7,500 families (close to 23,000 people) enrolled in the Massachusetts emergency assistance shelter system. She said during a live interview on El Mundo’s La Hora del Café that “we’re really running out of capacity” and renewed the administration’s calls for the federal government to speed up the work authorization process for immigrants and to establish new congregate shelters.“Folks are coming in through the border because they’re fleeing horrific circumstances. But when you have this many people in a shelter...

Trump sharply criticizes Netanyahu over intelligence failure in latest sign of soured relationship

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:25 GMT

Washington (CNN) — Former President Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the Israeli prime minister was caught unprepared by Hamas’ attack and praising the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah as “very smart.”The remarks reflect the soured relationship between the two men and are notable at a time when Trump’s Republican presidential rivals have uniformly sought to position themselves as steadfast supporters of Netanyahu during Israel’s war with Hamas.“(Netanyahu) has been hurt very badly because of what’s happened here. He was not prepared. He was not prepared, and Israel was not prepared,” Trump told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade in an interview clip that aired Wednesday night.Trump went further at a campaign event in West Palm Beach, Florida.“When I see sometimes the intelligence, you talk about the intelligence, or you talk about some of the things that went wrong over the last week, they’ve got to straighten it out because they’r...

‘Moonlighting’ creator says Bruce Willis is ‘still Bruce’ despite not being ‘totally verbal’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:25 GMT

(CNN) — Glenn Gordon Caron said that while his friend Bruce Willis can no longer communicate in all the same ways, he knows Willis is happy about his show “Moonlighting” finally coming to streaming.Caron, who was a creator of the show in which Willis starred in during the 1980s, talked to the New York Post about his friend, whom he said he tries to see around once or month or so.“I know he’s really happy that the show is going to be available for people,” Caron said.“Moonlighting,” a beloved romantic comedy series starring Willis and Cybil Shepherd as private investigators, is now streaming on Hulu.“The process [to get ‘Moonlighting’ onto Hulu] has taken quite a while and Bruce’s disease is a progressive disease, so I was able to communicate with him, before the disease rendered him as incommunicative as he is now, about hoping to get the show back in front of people,” Caron said. “I know it means a lot to him.”It was announced last year that Willis would be ...

10 reasons to hit the road along Oregon’s North Coast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:25 GMT

Susan Young | TravelPulse (TNS)The 75-mile stretch along Oregon’s Highway 101 from Astoria to Tillamook offers a day trip full of surprises. Also known as the Oregon Coast Highway, this route can be accessed a couple of hours from Portland and includes traversing the Northern Oregon Coast Range.The diverse topography and charming towns make this a beautiful way to spend a day on the road.An aerial view of Astoria, Oregon. (Dan Klimke/Dreamstime/TNS)AstoriaLocated in the northwest tip of Oregon lies the state’s first city, Astoria, and the largest on this trip. The Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean at this point, and, alongside the Astoria-Megler Bridge, this historic city offers a rich map of walking tours and water activities.The Riverfront Trolley is a deal for $1, which gets you a one-hour round trip covering three miles on the River Walk with stops including the Columbia River Maritime Museum. The Museum offers multiple interactive experience about shipwrecks, information a...

Review: The new ‘Frasier’ is classic and contemporary. And it’s quite good

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:25 GMT

Robert Lloyd | Los Angeles Times (TNS)I would not have bet on “Frasier” to win the Great Revival Sweepstakes, but here we are, 19 years after its run on NBC ended, picking up the story, Thursday on Paramount+. (In a “get you hooked” stratagem, the first two episodes will air on CBS the following Tuesday.)Not that the original wasn’t a great show, but I don’t suppose even its fans spent much time wondering what had become of radio psychologist Dr. Frasier Crane. (Now, Niles and Daphne, that’s another story.) Then again, “Frasier” wasn’t necessarily the comedy you would have expected to be spun off from “Cheers,” although I can’t think of a likelier candidate. And this new series, which brings in “Cheers” co-creator James Burrows to direct its first two episodes, is really quite good.Is it as good as classic “Frasier”? Well, it’s hardly fair to compare a 10-episode series, freshly conceived and cast (star Kelsey G...

Jay-Z’s Champagne maker is planning an even more exclusive brand

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:25 GMT

Tara Patel | Bloomberg News (TNS)The small French winemaker behind Jay-Z’s Champagne is laying the groundwork for the launch of another luxury brand, aiming to replicate the success of the rapper’s Armand de Brignac “Ace of Spades.”Family-owned Maison Cattier has stored bottles to age in its cellars of what will be called Champagne de Lossy, according to Alexandre Cattier, the 13th-generation head of the firm that traces its roots back to 1625. Sales are still at least a couple of years away, he said.Yet even at this early stage, promotion of the high-end label is gearing up. A bottle was featured inside a custom-built Rolls-Royce Droptail that costs upwards of $30 million and was unveiled in August in Carmel, California. Champagne de Lossy now also has a website and an Instagram page.“The brand will be even more exclusive than Armand de Brignac,” Cattier said in a telephone interview. “Sales will be more targeted.”He declined to provide details about the identity of his business pa...

Fact check: Trump misplaced blame when he said drug shortages were Biden’s fault

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:25 GMT

By Michelle Andrews | (TNS) KFF Health News“Under ‘Crooked Joe’ Biden, there has been a catastrophic increase in shortages of essential medicines.”Former president and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, in a July 24 campaign video____In a recent campaign video, former President Donald Trump blasted President Joe Biden for “a catastrophic increase” in drug shortages.“It’s a mess,” Trump said in the video, adding that new drug shortages were up last year by 30%, with “295 active drug shortages” by the end of 2022.The continued availability of lifesaving drugs is a concern in this country. Reports of shortages of medicines on which many Americans rely — from widely used cancer medications like cisplatin to over-the-counter painkillers such as Children’s Tylenol — have been widespread in recent years. The shortages have caused treatment delays or forced clinicians to substitute alternatives in place of preferred therapies.But is Biden responsible, or is Trump’s clai...

Mayo Clinic Minute: Strategies to stay healthy during respiratory virus season

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:25 GMT

DeeDee Stiepan | Mayo Clinic News Network (TNS)Fall and winter are a time when highly contagious viruses that cause respiratory illness usually circulate heavily in communities. Because many of these viruses can lead to serious infection, hospitalization and even death, it’s crucial to arm yourself with strategies that can help prevent illness and keep you and your loved ones safe.In this Mayo Clinic Minute, Dr. Priya Sampathkumar, an infectious diseases expert, outlines some strategies you can use to keep you and your family healthy during respiratory virus season.“Each year we have what we call viral respiratory season where people seem to get colds, and some people get worse infections, including pneumonia,” says Dr. Sampathkumar.The viruses responsible for causing most infections in the fall and winter are influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).One of the best strategies to provide protection against these viruses is vaccination. Annual flu shots a...