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Apple picking season starts today at Eckert's Farm

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:35:44 GMT

BELLEVILLE, Ill. - It's officially apple picking season at Eckert's farms. Pick-your-own apple season started at its Belleville and Grafton farms.You can pick 'gala' apples at all those locations right now. You can also start picking honey crisp apples at the same location later this month. Multiple people quit within hours at Jennings City Hall The Millstadt farm opens September 6, and will also have 'Jonathan' apples available to pick. This is the 60th year for pick-your own apples at Eckert's.

First it was drought. Now rain, hail and worms are impacting Colorado’s biggest crops

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:35:44 GMT

Late summer is prime time for Colorado produce that people look forward to for months and typically the end of the harvest for one of the state’s biggest crops: wheat. This year, though, rain, hail and pest infestations are making for a bumpier-than-usual road to market.Soaking rains held up the harvest of wheat and melons and hail pummeled the plants and produce on the Eastern Plains, while an onslaught by earworms hit as the harvest of Olathe sweet corn got underway on the Western Slope.And while the widespread rains washed away most of Colorado’s drought, farmers abandoned at least 20% of the state’s wheat crop because the strain of the past three dry years meant some plants just didn’t take hold before the moisture could help.On the other hand, in one more example of this season’s wild weather, some wheat growers are pulling in record yields thanks to all the downpours.“Coming into this spring, we ended up actually destroying about 35% (of the...

Pueblo police issue alert seeking missing 7-year-old girl

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:35:44 GMT

Police in Pueblo are searching for a missing 7-year-old girl last seen with her 39-year-old biological mother who does not have legal custody of the child.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | CBI alert update: 5-year-old taken from Aspen found safe Crime and Public Safety | Suspect in Arapahoe County child custody case is arrested in Texas Crime and Public Safety | Missing 2-month-old girl found safe in Denver hotel; parents arrested Crime and Public Safety | Amber Alert for missing 2-month-old updated with parents known to be in Aurora The Colorado Bureau of Investigation issued an alert late Tuesday for Rachael Bastian, described as standing 4 feet, 8 inches, weighing 62 pounds, with brown eyes and blonde hair. Bastian was seen on Friday morning with her noncustodial mother Cassandra Bastian, described as standing 5 feet, 9 inches, weighing 185 pounds, with blonde hair and hazel eyes, according to the alert poste...

First major jihadi attack since coup kills 17 and wounds dozens in Niger, fueling Western fears

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:35:44 GMT

By SAM MEDNICK (Associated Press)NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Insurgents killed 17 soldiers and wounded nearly 24 in the first major attack in half a year against the army in Niger, where Western powers fear a coup by the elite presidential guard last month is weakening a rare ally against jihadi violence in West Africa’s Sahel region. Niger was one of the last democratic countries in the region south of the Sahara and France and the U.S. have about 2,500 military personnel there who were training Niger’s forces. France also conducted joint operations with its former colony, but since the coup Paris and Washington have suspended military operations, giving the jihadis more breathing room. A military detachment was attacked Tuesday afternoon as it moved between the villages of Boni and Torodi in the Tillaberi region, the Ministry of Defense said on state television Tuesday. The wounded were evacuated to the capital, Niamey.It was the first major attack against Niger’s...

Vail man slacklines between 2 hot air balloons in Brazil

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:35:44 GMT

Eagle County’s Davis Hermes took his slacklining to a whole new level – 2,300 meters to be exact – but he reached that elevation between two unusual anchor points – hot air balloons.Hermes, who started slacklining after seeing a demonstration at the 2012 GoPro Mountain Games in Vail, has been traveling the world for competitions and to explore new places to slackline. He is the current title holder for the World Championships held in Laax, Switzerland last summer and dazzled viewers by slacklining between Fisher Towers, a pair of iconic rock formations made of sandstone near Moab, Utah in the fall of 2022.As if slacklining between the Fisher Towers, with about 800 feet of direct exposure below, wasn’t enough Hermes has once again achieved a feat almost unimaginable to the rest of us. As crazy as it seems to slackline between two hot air balloons, Hermes said this is not a new idea. Hermes’ friend and fellow slackline competitor, Rafa Bridi of Brazil, did it first along with a few ot...

Tropical Storm Hilary forms off Mexico’s southern Pacific coast

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:35:44 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Tropical Storm Hilary formed Wednesday far off Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, but it is expected to strengthen and move north towards the Baja California peninsula later this week.Hilary had winds of 40 mph (65 kph) Wednesday. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Hilary was located about 470 miles (755 kilometers) south-southeast of the port city of Manzanillo, far from land. The storm was moving west-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph). But it was expected to make a turn northward later in the week and strengthen into a hurricane before possibly brushing the northern part of the Baja peninsula, near the U.S. border, as a tropical storm.The Hurricane Center said that “Hilary has the potential to bring impacts to the Baja California Peninsula and portions of the southwestern United States this weekend.”Two other tropical storms, Fernanda and Greg, were far out to sea in the Pacific.

Relive famed “Smokey and the Bandit” Coors beer run at Golden hotel

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:35:44 GMT

Coors’ beer may be ubiquitous in gas stations and groceries stores across the country today, but in the 1970s, it was a hot commodity unavailable east of the Mississippi River. And a quest to bootleg 400 cases from Texarkana, Texas, to Atlanta in the movie “Smokey and the Bandit” catapulted the legacy brand to a cultural phenomenon.Now, a hotel in Coors’ home of Golden is paying tribute to the film – and the brewery’s 150th anniversary – with a themed lodging package that offers guests a chance to pose with a car inspired by its famous Trans Am and, of course, plentiful beer.Embed from Getty ImagesMovie buffs can book a reservation at The Eddy Taproom & Hotel (1640 8th St, Golden), for a curated experience that is sure to satisfy fans who are “eastbound and down, loaded up and truckin’.” The package, which starts at $900 for two people, includes a trip to the Rods & Bodz Museum, which showcases many cars made famous on the silver screen; a guided brewery tour in ...

Los Angeles General Medical Center seeks to identify patient

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:35:44 GMT

A man hospitalized at Los Angeles General Medical Center is seen in a photo provided by the hospital on Aug. 16, 2023. Los Angeles General Medical Center in Boyle Heights is asking for help identifying a patient who has hospitalized since Aug. 11.The man is about 25 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 114 pounds, according to the hospital. He has a medium build, black hair and brown eyes.He was found at 601 S. San Pedro St. in downtown Los Angeles.No further details about the patient, including his injuries or condition, were released. Anyone with information about the patient or his loved ones is asked to contact Daisy Rivera, a clinical social worker at the hospital, at 323-409-4860 or 323-409-6884.

California woman's superstition leads to $1 million lottery win

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:35:44 GMT

If Elena Penaloza wasn’t a fan of Itchy & Scratchy on "The Simpsons," she might be now.Penaloza recently won $1 million on a California Lottery Scratcher ticket that she purchased in West Covina, lottery officials said.Just days before she won the big prize, her family says her hands began to itch.“You know that superstition where when your hands get itchy, it means you’re going to get money? She said she felt that the week before she won,” Penaloza’s daughter, Ariana, told the California Lottery. “She thinks it was fate.”Elena Penaloza won $1 million on a California Lottery Scratcher ticket that she purchased in West Covina, lottery officials said. (California Lottery)Superstition or not, Penaloza bought the winning Diamond 8 ticket at the 7-Eleven on North Azusa Avenue and uncovered the million-dollar prize on the 16th of the 20 squares.According to her daughter, neither of them initially believed they had won, so they went back to the 7-Eleven the following day to scan the ti...

Rock out at the Roxy for venue's 50th anniversary

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:35:44 GMT

A Los Angeles County music landmark is celebrating its golden anniversary this year with a star-studded lineup of shows.The Roxy in West Hollywood, which opened as a music venue in 1973 with a three-night stand by Neil Young, will bring back the legendary rocker for more shows on Sept. 20 and 21. Other prominent acts include actress and singer Keke Palmer, alternative hip-hop duo Paris Texas, and Stephen Marley, who will be performing a tribute to his father, Bob Marley, and the elder Marley's 1976 show at the venue, which was released on the album "Live at the Roxy." Sheriff’s deputies disperse hundreds gathered outside The Roxy in West Hollywood Though the building was constructed in 1936, its revival as the Roxy was part of the burgeoning rock 'n' roll history of the Sunset Strip, featuring performances from the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Linda Ronstadt and the Temptations.The city of West Hollywood designated it a local cultural resource in 2019.The Roxy also hosted the first...