South Florida gears up to honor injured veterans in 20th Annual Soldier Ride

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:58:47 GMT

South Florida gears up to honor injured veterans in 20th Annual Soldier Ride The South Florida community is honoring over 40 injured veterans, including current patients at Walter Reed Medical Center, during this year’s Miami-Key West Soldier Ride.The annual Wounded Warrior Project event began Thursday and will run through the weekend, marking its 20th year.The event began when a lone cyclist took the 5,000-mile coast-to-coast journey to recognize post-9/11 injured veterans, giving rise to Soldier Ride.Army veteran Jacob Norotsky was serving in Iraq back in 2007 when the helicopter he was in was attacked. He now suffers from PTSD as a result. “It just felt like every hill we went just got better and better and all the guys and girls around me just overcoming and you could just hear the camaraderie getting better by the moment,” said Norotsky. Soldier Ride has evolved over two decades, bringing large groups of injured veterans to cities across America. Focused on fostering strong social connections, the program addresses mental and physical ...

Russia has used North Korean ballistic missiles in Ukraine and is seeking Iranian missiles, US says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:58:47 GMT

Russia has used North Korean ballistic missiles in Ukraine and is seeking Iranian missiles, US says WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russia has acquired ballistic missiles from North Korea and is seeking close-range ballistic missiles from Iran as Moscow struggles to replenish supplies for its war with Ukraine, the White House said Thursday.Recently declassified intelligence found that North Korea has provided Russia with ballistic missile launchers and several ballistic missiles, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. Russian forces fired at least one of those ballistic missiles into Ukraine on Dec. 30 and it landed in an open field in the Zaporizhzhia region, he said.Russia launched multiple North Korean ballistic missiles on Tuesday as part of an overnight attack, and the U.S. was assessing the impact, he said. The missiles have a range of about 550 miles (885 kilometers).U.S. intelligence officials believe that North Korea, in return for its arms support, wants Russia to provide it with aircraft, sur...

Treating hearing loss is associated with a decrease in risk of early death and dementia, studies show

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:58:47 GMT

Treating hearing loss is associated with a decrease in risk of early death and dementia, studies show (CNN) — Your health resolutions for the new year may need to include getting checked for hearing aids.Wearing hearing aids if you need them may help protect you from early death, according to a new study published Wednesday in The Lancet Healthy Longevity journal.“What we found was that there was a 24% lower risk of mortality for people who use hearing aids,” said Dr. Janet Choi, an assistant professor of clinical otolaryngology-head and neck surgery with the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine and an otolaryngologist with Keck Medicine of USC.The study looked at the data of 10,000 people — more than 1,800 of whom were identified as having hearing loss — and followed up on their mortality between 1999 and 2012.Some 237 of those with hearing loss reported using hearing aids at least once a week, whereas 1,483 reported never using hearing devices, according to the research.There was no difference in risk of death over the research period bet...

Bruins notebook: Faceoffs need improvement

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:58:47 GMT

Bruins notebook: Faceoffs need improvement If there was one thing for which you could count on from the Bruins over the last decade-plus before this season, it was that they would be good on faceoffs.From the 2009-10 season through the record-breaking regular season of 2022-23, they had the highest faceoff win percentage of any team in the league, winning 52.7% of the draws over those 1,076 games.It helped, of course, having one of the best – if not the best – faceoff men of his generation in Patrice Bergeron, who took a large chunk of those draws.But with Bergeron now in retirement, the numbers have fallen off. Going into Thursday’s game against the Penguins, who owned the top spot this year with a 55.3% win rate, the B’s were in unfamiliarity territory, ranked 22nd in the league at 49.1%.The good news is that their top two centers, Charlie Coyle (51.5%) and Pavel Zacha (52.5%) and rookie Johnny Beecher (54%) , set to return to the lineup on Thursday after a healthy scratch, are all above water.But others have s...

Revolutionary gene therapy may offer new life for patients battling chronic sickle cell disease

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:58:47 GMT

Revolutionary gene therapy may offer new life for patients battling chronic sickle cell disease Robert McCoppin | Chicago TribuneLyric Porter wanted her life back. Born with sickle cell disease, she had a fever at age 5 that scarred her lungs and required her to roll an oxygen tank to school. When she was growing up, clogged blood vessels racked her body with stabbing sensations and forced her to be hospitalized again and again.When she learned of a new experimental treatment at the University of Chicago Medicine to alter her genes and possibly cure her, she decided to take it. The process itself was an ordeal, but more than a year later, at age 27, Porter is feeling better, has more energy and has stayed out of the hospital.“I had to take the risk,” she said. “I wanted a better quality of life. And I lost so many friends who had sickle cell disease.”Now, other patients may benefit from a similar new treatment. Federal regulators recently approved a groundbreaking protocol that has the potential to relieve some of the 100,000 Americans, most of them Black, who suffer from this...

Two companies will attempt the first US moon landings since the Apollo missions a half-century ago

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:58:47 GMT

Two companies will attempt the first US moon landings since the Apollo missions a half-century ago By MARCIA DUNN (AP Aerospace Writer)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — China and India scored moon landings, while Russia, Japan and Israel ended up in the lunar trash heap.Now two private companies are hustling to get the U.S. back in the game, more than five decades after the Apollo program ended.It’s part of a NASA-supported effort to kick-start commercial moon deliveries, as the space agency focuses on getting astronauts back there.“They’re scouts going to the moon ahead of us,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. Pittsburgh’s Astrobotic Technology is up first with a planned liftoff of a lander Monday aboard a brand new rocket, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan. Houston’s Intuitive Machines aims to launch a lander in mid-February, hopping a flight with SpaceX.Then there’s Japan, which will attempt to land in two weeks. The Japanese Space Agency’s lander with two toy-size rovers had a big head start, sharing a September launch w...

Police pursue suspect on southbound I-5 to San Diego County

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:58:47 GMT

Police pursue suspect on southbound I-5 to San Diego County SAN DIEGO — A high-speed chase of a suspect on southbound Interstate 5 ended in San Diego County Thursday morning.The vehicle, a gray Honda Civic, was seen driving at a high-rate of speed moving into the county. It is unknown at this time where and when the pursuit started.The chase ended just after 10:45 a.m. in Encinitas near the I-5 Birmingham Drive exit, according to California Highway Patrol. At least one suspect was taken into custody. No details were immediately available about the case or the individual.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Update: Multiple gunshot victims at Perry High School, gunman is dead

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:58:47 GMT

Update: Multiple gunshot victims at Perry High School, gunman is dead PERRY, Iowa -- Multiple people were shot Thursday morning at Perry High School according to Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante.Law enforcement was notified about an active shooter at the school at 7:37 a.m. When emergency responders arrived on the scene just seven minutes later they found multiple gunshot victims.At a news conference shortly after 10:00 a.m., Sheriff Infante said it's unclear how many victims were shot and the extent of their injuries at this time, but the threat is over and there is no danger to the public. Another news conference has been scheduled for 3:00 p.m. to release updated information about the shooting.NBC News is reporting the shooter is believed to be dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and may have been a student. At least three others were injured including two students and an administrator. WHO 13's Lindsey Burrell spoke with a representative for UnityPoint Health in Des Moines and confirmed they are treating two victims with gunshot w...

New York governor pushes for paid medical leave during pregnancy

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:58:47 GMT

New York governor pushes for paid medical leave during pregnancy ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Pregnant people in New York would have 40 hours of paid leave to attend prenatal medical appointments under a new proposal by Gov. Kathy Hochul after the state’s legislative session kicked off this week. The Democrat’s plan to expand the state’s paid family leave policy, which would need to be approved by the state Legislature, aims to expand access to high-quality prenatal care and prevent maternal and infant deaths in New York, an issue that especially affects low-income and minority communities. The U.S. infant mortality rate, a measure of how many babies die before they reach their first birthday, is worse than other high-income countries, which experts have attributed to poverty, inadequate prenatal care and other possibilities. The U.S. rate rose 3% in 2022 — the largest increase in two decades, according to a 2023 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.“We hope what we’re doing in New York will raise the bar for the rest...