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Lettuce prices likely to rise again amid California flooding, experts say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:13 GMT

Lettuce prices are likely to rise next month and could stay high into the summer, agriculture experts say, as flooding in a key California farming area becomes the latest example of extreme weather’s effect on the food chain.The Salinas Valley, where a vast amount of lettuce and other produce eaten in North America is grown every year, has seen severe rain and storms since the beginning of the year, said John Bishop, national buyer for produce distributor Fresh Start Foods.All that extra water has flooded fields and delayed planting, Bishop said, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in crop damage. “It’s been very concerning,” he said. Tens of thousands of acres of farmland have flooded in Salinas since the beginning of the year, Mark Shaw, vice-president of operations for California-based Markon Cooperative said in an email. Below-average temperatures are adding to farmers’ struggles, he added. Salinas is the same region where disease struck lettuce crops last fall, creating se...

Daily horoscope for March 27, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:13 GMT

Moon Alert: Avoid shopping or important decisions after 9:15 p.m. EDT today (6:15 p.m. PDT). The Moon is in Gemini.Happy Birthday for Monday, March 27, 2023:People are attracted to you because you are individualistic and likable. You are committed to whatever you do. This year is the first year of a new cycle for you, which will bring new beginnings, adventures and major changes in your life. Keep your eyes open for new opportunities!ARIES(March 21-April 19)★★★★★Today you feel like an action hero. You’re full of energy and the power of positive thinking. Oh yes, you feel you can do anything! (Well, almost.) It’s a great day for a short trip. It’s also a fantastic day for those in sales, marketing, teaching or acting. Your words are like gold! Don’t hesitate to go after what you want. Tonight: Fun conversations.TAURUS(April 20-May 20)★★★★This is an excellent day for business and commerce. Trust your ability to negotiate deals behind the scenes. Research will p...

IAEA head to visit Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant this week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:13 GMT

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi will visit the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine this week to assess the serious situation there, he announced on Saturday (25 March).Grossi is pressing for a security zone to be erected around what is Europe's largest nuclear power plant, with six reactors, which has come under repeated shelling over the past months.It will be his second visit. Last September he went there and established a permanent presence of IAEA experts.Russian troops occupied the facility early in their invasion of Ukraine and it remains near the front line. Both sides blame each other for the shelling."The situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is still precarious," Grossi said in the statement, saying he wanted "to assess first-hand the serious nuclear safety and security situation at the facility".Earlier this month he appealed for the protection zone around the plant to be set up, saying he was "astonished by the complacency" around...

Doing justice to history, a powerful call for recognition of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:13 GMT

In Bangladesh, March 25 is marked as Genocide Day, the anniversary of the start of the Pakistani army’s brutal campaign of suppression in 1971 that claimed some three million lives. There is now a powerful campaign for international recognition that the mass murders, rapes and torture were an act of genocide against the Bengali people. It took an important step forward in Brussels on this year’s anniversary, with a special event organised by the Bangladesh Embassy, writes Political Editor Nick Powell.The Bangladesh genocide was one of the worst such events in human history. The killings, rapes and other atrocities became widely known at the time, with widespread popular support around the world in 1971 for the struggle for freedom of the people of what was then East Pakistan. Yet, just as governments at the time were slow to recognise the democratic legitimacy of a free Bangladesh, the international community has ...

Video shows California deputies fatally shooting mentally ill man wielding a spiked club

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:13 GMT

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has released footage of deputies fatally shooting a 33-year-old mentally ill man wielding a spiked club in a Moreno Valley home on Feb. 6.In audio footage of the 911 call, the mother of Moreno Valley resident Jesus Antonio Rodriguez told a dispatcher she had a “5150 son” who had been behaving more “out of control yesterday and today.” Rodriguez’s mother said he was aggressive but had not hit anyone.The 5150 police code refers to a law allowing a mentally disturbed person to be involuntarily detained for psychiatric evaluation if they are deemed a danger to themselves or others.Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco says in the edited video that the mother also saw her son smoking an unknown substance while under the influence of alcohol.Deputies responded to the residence at the 25400 block of Filaree Avenue around 12:31 p.m., entered the home, and approached Rodriguez’s bedroom. In the video, Bianco said officers stood at the bedroom doorway ...

Sex offender arrested, is suspected of filming minor in California store bathroom

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:13 GMT

A Montebello man suspected of using his cellphone to record a child in a Pasadena department store bathroom has been arrested, authorities said.Around 5:15 p.m., Saturday, March 18, the child victim was inside a bathroom stall at the department store in the 400 block of South Lake Avenue when a man  tried to film the child from an adjacent stall, according to the Pasadena Police Department. The man fled the store after the child caught him attempting to record.Police were able to identify the suspect as 37-year-old David Edward Miranda, a registered sex offender, and arrested him at his Montebello home the following day on suspicion of possessing child pornography and invasion of privacy.Digital devices containing thousand of images and videos of child pornography were found at Miranda’s home during the arrest, police said.Miranda remained in custody on Sunday on an $80,000 bail, according to inmate records.Anyone with information about the case should contact the Pasadena Police at...

Miss Manners: Her response to my compliment left me speechless

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:13 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I was at a party for a financial business, where everyone was dressed up and having cocktails and hors d’oeuvres before a sit-down dinner and dancing.A woman stood nearby for several minutes with her back to me. When she turned and we caught each other’s eyes, I told her I had been admiring her dress and that it was a very interesting print.She responded, “Thank you, it’s a (something Italian).”I’ve heard of this type of response to a compliment before, but always thought it was some kind of joke — perhaps making fun of certain types of people, like the Housewives of Wherever. I was totally unprepared for her comment, and just grunted in response. My first thought was to ask if she had gotten it at a thrift store, but I wisely kept that to myself.I guess I don’t run in the right circles, so can you enlighten me as to the proper reaction? Or was her statement a natural response to my comment on the print? What do I sa...

Dear Abby: I forgave my wife’s affair and started one of my own. What do I do now?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:13 GMT

DEAR ABBY: I’ve been married for a little more than 12 years. My wife and I have one child. Unfortunately, like a lot of relationships, we’ve been stuck in a rough patch for a while now.I learned that she was having an affair a few years ago, which rocked me to the core. I recognized there were cracks forming early on, but, admittedly, I didn’t do enough to try to fix them. I ultimately decided to forgive her, and we have tried our best to put things back together.Last year, I met someone through work with whom I connected on an incredibly deep level, and I found myself to be genuinely happy in a way I hadn’t been for ages. It led to an affair that has been going on for a year. This woman desperately wants us to have a life together, as do I, but I’m afraid of what it will do to my child.Walking away from my long marriage, even with everything that has happened, is difficult to fathom, as is the thought of destroying my child’s sense of family and...

Jill On Money: Bank failures put Fed in the hot seat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:13 GMT

Federal Reserve officials were under fire as they convened their two-day policy meeting, during which they decided to raise short-term rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.75-5.00 percent. Despite uncertainty in the banking sector, the Fed said that still-high inflation required action.Related ArticlesEconomy | Summer travel is likely to remain hot this year, so book early Economy | How being neurodiverse affects your relationship with money Economy | Have a job and a side gig? Watch for these missteps Economy | How to fight the ‘pink tax’ amid inflation Economy | Credit or debit card for kids: Which is best? The rate decision, along with events of the previous two weeks at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Signature Bank, and Credit Suisse, have put the Fed’s policies and oversight in the hot seat.Although many of the problems at these banks were unique to them, the broader issue may be that the Fed a...

Malaysia, Cambodia sign pacts on Cambodian workers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:13 GMT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Malaysia and Cambodia signed two agreements on Monday on the employment of Cambodian migrant workers, as Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim made his first visit to Phnom Penh since becoming his country’s leader in November.Anwar was accompanied by his ministers of foreign affairs, religious affairs and human resources, Malaysia’s foreign ministry said ahead of his one-day trip.He held talks Monday morning with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and was to meet with King Norodom Sihamoni and top lawmakers later in the day.The two governments signed agreements on the recruitment, employment and repatriation of Cambodian workers in Malaysia. Malaysia, one of Southeast Asia’s richer countries, employs low-wage workers from Cambodia, one of the region’s poorer nations.Anwar’s trip comes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He was also scheduled to meet with members of Cambodia’s small Islamic community, almost all of whom belong to the Cham ethnic ...