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Tug the beard! Kris Kringle joins WTOP as Toby’s Dinner Theatre stages ‘Miracle on 34th Street’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:49 GMT

Robert John Biedermann plays Kris Kringle in "Miracle on 34th Street" at Toby's Dinner Theatre. (Toby's Dinner Theatre) Robert John Biedermann plays Kris Kringle in "Miracle on 34th Street" at Toby's Dinner Theatre. (Toby's Dinner Theatre) Few movie moments are as iconic as young Susan Walker (Natalie Wood) tugging the beard of Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) at Macy’s in New York City in “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947), a tradition that continues every year with Santa Claus as the grand finale of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.Toby’s Dinner Theatre stages “Miracle on 34th Street” in Columbia, Maryland, now through Jan. 7.“Ho, ho, ho! This is Santa Claus talking!R...

The Gathering Place contracted to operate Denver micro-community

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:49 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The Gathering Place will operate a 44-unit micro-community on Elati Street, the organization announced Tuesday after the resolution was adopted at the Monday night Denver City Council meeting. The one-year contract for $1.45 million authorizes the non-profit to use its existing service model to provide wrap-around support for unsheltered women as well as transgender and non-binary people. How you can help migrants in Denver The micro-community, called Elati Village and located at 1375 N. Elati St., is one of 10 sites the city is setting up to provide short-term housing for people experiencing homelessness. The communities are part of Mayor Mike Johnston's House1000 initiative, which aims to house 1,000 people living on the streets by the end of the year. With only a few weeks left in the year, the city's House1000 dashboard shows that 311 people have received some kind of shelter through the city. The dashboard also says that 500 beds will be provided through micr...

Police pursuit of reported stolen van on I-95 ends in arrest on SR 112 in Miami-Dade

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:49 GMT

A police pursuit of a reported stolen van that began on the southbound lanes of Interstate 95 near Miami Gardens ended with the arrest of a subject.7Skyforce followed above the van as the driver swerved through traffic.The reported stolen cargo van forced authorities to conduct multiple PIT maneuvers, all of which were unsuccessful.The subject abandoned the van on the on-ramp to SR 112 West and began running the ramp on foot.Ultimately, the subject could be seen with his hands raised and surrendered to officers around 2:15 p.m. at the SR 112 West on-ramp.Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.

New Harvard report shows record number of senior citizens are struggling to afford basic housing

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:49 GMT

A new report from Harvard recently showed a record number of senior citizens are struggling to afford basic housing. The report came from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. Already facing a problem, experts warn the issue is going to get worse as the Baby Boomer generation turns 80 in the coming years.The country, experts say, might not be prepared.“Older adults are more likely to be what we call housing cost burdens,” said lead report author Jennifer Molinsky in a recent interview. “They’re paying more than 30 percent of their income for housing at older ages. So, we have a population that’s aging. Baby Boomers are now in their late 70s, on the cusp of turning 80. And, already we have about a third of older households paying that 30 percent or more of their income for housing.”  “That’s 11.2 million people,” Molinsky said. Molinsky said the next few years are when the need for housing services is going to increase.As the ne...

‘Forever chemicals’ in thousands of private wells near military sites, study finds

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:49 GMT

Patricia Kime | (TNS) KFF Health NewsWater tests show nearly 3,000 private wells located near 63 active and former U.S. military bases are contaminated with “forever chemicals” at levels higher than what federal regulators consider safe for drinking.According to the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that analyzed Department of Defense testing data, 2,805 wells spread across 29 states were contaminated with at least one of two types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, above 4 parts per trillion, a limit proposed earlier this year by the Environmental Protection Agency. That new drinking water standard is expected to take effect by the end of the year.But contamination in those wells was lower than the 70 parts per trillion threshold the Pentagon uses to trigger remediation.EWG researchers said they did not know how many people rely on the wells for drinking, cooking, and bathing, but the 76 tested locations represent just a fraction of the p...

Massachusetts could see some snow: Where’s the best chance for 2-plus inches?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:49 GMT

Some parts of the Bay State could see the first snow accumulation of the year when they wake up on Wednesday.National Weather Service meteorologists are forecasting some snow showers on Tuesday night into Wednesday, especially across eastern Massachusetts and particularly the South Shore. A few inches of accumulation is possible.“The risk of light snow increases tonight as ocean-effect showers return to eastern MA, particularly SE MA,” the National Weather Service’s Boston office posted on Tuesday.“The best chance of seeing 2+ inches of snow is along the south shore and, to a lesser extent, the north shore of MA,” NWS Boston added.Related ArticlesWeather | Snow possible Wednesday, according to NWS, with chilly days ahead Weather | After parts of Massachusetts see snow, a rainy and windy travel day before a sunny Thanksgiving Weather | Wind and rain could make holiday travel ‘difficult’ NWS says ...

Harvard, MIT, Penn presidents defend actions in combatting antisemitism on campus

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:49 GMT

By ANNIE MA (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — The presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Tuesday that they were taking steps to combat antisemitism on campus since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, including increasing security and providing additional counseling and mental health support.In testimony before a House committee, the university leaders said there was a fine line between protecting free speech and allowing protests, while also combatting antisemitism.“Harvard must provide firm leadership in the fight against antisemitism and hate speech even while preserving room for free expression and dissent. This is difficult work, and I admit that we have not always gotten it right,” said Claudine Gay, of Harvard. “As Harvard’s president, I am personally responsible for confronting antisemitism with the urgency it demands.”Gay, Liz Magill of Penn and Sally Kornbluth of MIT disavowed antisemitism and Islamophobia o...

Israel moves into Gaza’s second-largest city and intensifies strikes in bloody new phase of the war

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:49 GMT

By Wafaa Shurafa, Jack Jeffery and Sam Magdy, Associated PressDEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel said Tuesday that its troops had entered Gaza’s second-largest city as intensified bombardment sent streams of ambulances and cars racing to hospitals with wounded and dead Palestinians, including children, in a bloody new phase of the war.The military said its forces were “in the heart” of Khan Younis, which has emerged as the first target in the expanded ground offensive into southern Gaza that Israel says aims to destroy Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union. Military officials said they were engaged in the “most intense day” of battles since the ground offensive began more than five weeks ago, with heavy firefights also taking place in northern Gaza.In other developments, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military would have to retain open-ended security control over the Gaza Strip long a...

12 things to help you find community and combat loneliness

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:49 GMT

By Andrea RichardsThe global pandemic intensified what was already classified as an epidemic of loneliness in America.A 2021 study commissioned by Cigna concluded that more than half of adults in the U.S. (58 percent) are considered lonely. The many health consequences of loneliness — increases in conditions such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia, depression, anxiety, addiction and suicide — prompted U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murty to issue an advisory in April 2023 warning that lack of social connection increases the risk of premature death as much as daily cigarette smoking.Because social connection is such a significant predictor of longevity, Murty made increasing it a priority for public health, creating a national plan for how to foster these essential connections. A key recommendation is to actively participate in social and community groups — in other words, adults need more play.“When we talk about and think of play, we often imagine children running arou...

It’s getting harder to find long-term residential behavioral health treatment for kids

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:49 GMT

Aaron Bolton, MTPR | KFF Health News (TNS)HELENA, Mont. — Connie MacDonald works for the State Department at the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It’s a dream job, and she loved living abroad with her two sons.But earlier this year, MacDonald said, her 8-year-old son started to become aggressive. At first the family thought it was ADHD. Her son was indeed eventually diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder — as well as disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, which makes it difficult for her son to control his emotions, particularly anger.“He was hurting me. He was threatening to kill his brother. One of the last straws was they had four people at school holding him down for almost an hour trying to calm him down,” she said.The American International School of Jeddah told her that her son couldn’t come back. His behavior was so severe that MacDonald started to look for residential treatment back in the U.S.She found Intermountain Residential in Montana. Children...