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Mishmash of how US heat deaths are counted complicates efforts to keep people safe as Earth warms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:11 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Postal worker Eugene Gates Jr. was delivering mail in the suffocating Dallas heat this summer when he collapsed in a homeowner’s yard and was taken to a hospital, where he died. Carla Gates said she’s sure heat was a factor in her 66-year-old husband’s death, even though she’s still waiting for the autopsy report. When Eugene Gates died on June 20, the temperature was 98 degrees Fahrenheit (36.6 Celsius) and the heat index, which also considers humidity, had soared over 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius). “I will believe this until the day I die, that it was heat-related,” Carla Gates said. Even when it seems obvious that extreme heat was a factor, death certificates don’t always reflect the role it played. Experts say a mishmash of ways more than 3,000 counties calculate heat deaths means we don’t really know how many people die in the U.S. each year because of high temperatures in an ever warming world. That imprecision h...

5 injured, one critically, after car strikes pedestrians in North York crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:11 GMT

Five people were taken to hospital, one in life-threatening condition, following a two-car crash in North York. Police say just before 6 p.m. Saturday a black Subaru Outback was going westbound on Sheppard Avenue when it collided head-on at Bathurst Street with a black Volkswagen Passat that was going eastbound. The force of the crash sent the Volkswagen off the road, striking three pedestrians who were on the southeast corner of the intersection. One of the pedestrians was transported to hospital with critical injuries while two others were treated for non-life threatening injuries. Both drivers were also taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Police did not say if any charges were pending as the investigation is ongoing.

Sunday Forecast: Sunny morning, Good air quality

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:11 GMT

Sunday:  Sunny morning, increasing PM clouds. NW 5-10 mph changing out of the NE in the afternoon. Air quality is in the Good category for today. High 83, upper 70s lakeside-- just about everyone in the 70s by dinnertime. Chicago Weather | Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center's Forecast (wgntv.com)Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy. Chance of showers overnight. Low: 67Monday: Mostly cloudy with on/off rain at times & possible thunderstorms. High mid to upper 70sExtended outlook calls for a few lingering showers into Tuesday with highs near 80. Warmer and more sun as we get into TuWed as highs get into the mid to upper 80s. Possible showers/thunderstorms with more clouds on Thu with temps still in the muggy 80s. Trending back towards dry on Friday and into the coming weekend. 

Death toll in Maui rises to 93 with 2,200 structures destroyed or damaged

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:11 GMT

Follow live updates about wildfires that have devastated parts of Maui in Hawaii this week, destroying a historic town and forcing evacuations. The National Weather Service said Hurricane Dora, which passed south of the island chain, was partly to blame for strong winds that initially drove the flames, knocking out power and grounding firefighting helicopters. GOVERNOR SAYS DEATH TOLL INCREASES, POLICY REVIEW PLANNEDIn a press conference Saturday, Gov. Josh Green said the number of confirmed deaths from the Maui wildfires had risen to 89, making it the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than 100 years.Maui County later raised the confirmed death toll to 93.There were 2,200 structures destroyed or damaged just in West Maui, and 86% of those were residential buildings, Green said“The losses approach $6 billion in estimate," Green said, adding that it would take “an incredible amount of time" to recover.Green said officials will review policies and procedures to improve safety.“People hav...

Low rain chances

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:11 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- There have been 51 days with a high temperature reaching triple digits. More than half of those days, 30 to be exact, have had a high of 105° and higher.Heat ... and then someToday will be a carbon copy of Saturday with most highs reaching 102° and 106°. This morning's clouds will gradually thin by 10 a.m. leaving a mainly sunny sky for the afternoon.Today's normal high is 99°Perhaps the only change will be in the heat index readings. Yesterday, the highest ranged from 109° to 113° (Cameron). Today's forecast drops those numbers down to104° to 108°.The Excessive Heat Warning for 13 counties and the Heat Advisory for Blanco and Gillespie Counties continue today from Noon to 9:00 p.m. Heat alerts remain in effect all day and eveningThe Red Flag Warning continues for every county today from Noon to 11 p.m.. As fire danger remains critically high, make sure you don't accidentally spark a dangerous situation this weekend.A cold front is forecast to reach Lampasas and San...

Veterans battle backlog to get care for toxic exposure

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:11 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- Tracey Souza spends the later days of her ailing husband's life caring for him — and ensuring the country he served cares for him, too. Collecting medical records, scavenging for Vietnam War-era service papers, navigating the maze of Veterans Affairs bureaucracy: a labor of love for a husband who dedicated decades to service before illness sidelined him."He made the military his entire life," Souza said. "Since the stroke, and then the Parkinson's, he's not as active as he used to be. There's a lot of things he can't do now. He can't ride bikes, he can't drive cars... it turned him upside down."Souza said her husband is one of thousands of veterans whose battle did not end when they returned home. The victims not of combatants, but of cancer — wounded not by bullets, but by burn pits."When you're in the military at that time... the chemicals that they used over there in the perimeter of the flight line, I believe a lot of that has to do with it. I'm sure that the...

Fatal plane crash claims one life near Virden Illinois

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:11 GMT

VIRDEN, Ill-- One person has died in a plane crash near Verdin, Illinois, which is located about an hour north of St. Louis. According to the Macoupin County Sheriff's Office, the pilot was the sole victim and occupant of the aircraft. The pilot's name has not been released yet. The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are conducting an investigation into the cause of this fatal plane crash. This incident occurred shortly before nine o'clock on Saturday morning.

Colorado’s housing market is so strained it’s endangering domestic violence victims, advocates says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:11 GMT

When Jonita Davis finally secured a rental apartment in mid-July, her two children asked to hold the keys. The kids, 7 and 10, twirled the keys around in their fingers — tactile evidence that their six-month stay crammed into a Centennial hotel room was coming to an end.Everybody has their own room in the family’s new three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in south metro Denver. Davis’ son has a race car bed. Her daughter plays with toys on the balcony while Davis reads. Now that she and her children are somewhere safe, Davis is only beginning to process what it means to have escaped a toxic relationship.The whole family is taking a collective, grounding breath, she said.Even so, fear lingers.“It’s a mix of relief and fear,” Davis said. “Is this real? Is this permanent? Is this going to be taken away? The kids saw me stressing every week about paying for the hotel room, and it took me a minute to get them to understand that we don’t hav...

Deaths in Colorado declined in 2022, but were still higher than pre-pandemic levels. Is this the new normal?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:11 GMT

Fewer Coloradans died in 2022 than during the first two years of the pandemic, but it’s too soon to tell whether the state’s still-elevated death toll last year was a point of transition or the start of a new normal.Nearly all of the improvement in Colorado’s death rates from 2021 to 2022 was because less than half as many people died of COVID-19. That was partially offset by an increase in deaths from other diseases, however, as overdose deaths stabilized well above their pre-pandemic levels.The state’s mortality data is delayed three to four months, so it’s not yet known whether those same trends have continued into 2023, said Kirk Bol, manager of the vital statistics program at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.COVID-19 deaths will most likely be lower this year, because 2022 included the second half of the massive omicron-driven wave and nothing comparable has happened since, he said. But the trends aren’t as obvious for...

Used car buyers looking to spend under $20,000 have slim pickings in Denver

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:11 GMT

One fallout from the pandemic and the inflation that followed has been a dramatic decrease in the number of late-model vehicles available for under $20,000, according to a new study from iSeeCars, an online vehicle marketplace.Back in 2019, nearly half of all late-model used vehicles, defined as those under five years old, could be purchased for under $20,000. But this year, only 12.4% fell under that price point, according to the study.And for those with only $15,000 to spend, the availability of late-model vehicles went from 23% of the market nationally to only 1.6%.The decline was more extreme in metro Denver, where the share of sub-$20,000 vehicles fell from 41.6% to 9%, the sixth largest decline of the 50 metro areas examined.“During the pandemic lockdowns, one of the few things people could still do was take a drive, and clearly many of them did,” said Karl Brauer, an executive analyst with iSeeCars. “This drove up the mileage across the used car market, but the supply of new ...