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Wildfire smoke can damage the brain long after flames are extinguished, research says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

A growing body of international research suggests pollution from wildfire smoke can produce cognitive deficits, post-traumatic stress and may even increase the risk of dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.Until recently, the effects of wildfires have been studied on patients’ lungs, hearts and blood. But several researchers have started looking into how fine particulate matter from wildfire smoke can enter the body and travel to the brain.Kent Pinkerton, pediatrics professor at the University of California, Davis, said the nose is typically a good filter and keeps a number of inhaled particles out of the lungs. But there is concern that during wildfires, tiny particles of soot and other chemicals in smoke have the ability to enter the cells and nerves of the nose, both of which scientists have shown have a direct connection to the brain.Cells and nerves connecting the nose-brain passage, Pinkerton said, can get inflamed and damaged by wildfire smoke.“...

B.C. wildfire regions see rain, lightning in forecast as province lifts travel ban

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

Firefighters in British Columbia’s southern Interior continue to battle a number of significant wildfires even as cooler, wetter weather is anticipated in the region.The BC Wildfire Service says 120 wildland firefighters and 105 structural firefighters are deployed at the Bush Creek East blaze in the Shuswap region, while heavy smoke in the area continues to prevent the use of fixed-wing water bombers to combat the fire.The Columbia Shuswap Regional District confirmed Tuesday that the fire has forced the evacuation of 11,000 people and destroyed buildings such as the firehall at Scotch Creek.Environment Canada had issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the area late Tuesday, calling for possible heavy downpours as well as lightning overnight.The forecast calls for rain to possibly continue later today, with a daily high temperature of 18 degrees and a 70 per cent chance of showers in the afternoon lasting through early evening for communities like Salmon Arm.The wet weather, h...

Firefighter attends citizenship ceremony while on front lines of B.C. wildfire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

POPKUM, B.C. — When Walter Roos was planning for the ceremony over Zoom where he would become a Canadian citizen, he expected to attend in business attire while at home in Popkum, B.C., east of Chilliwack.Instead, after coming to Canada from the Netherlands 18 years ago, Roos was made a Canadian in the back of a firefighting vehicle Monday, dressed in the red uniform of firefighters doing battle with the province’s devastating wildfires.Chief of Popkum Fire Rescue, Roos has been fighting fires for more than 15 years and is one of the more than 500 called in to tackle the devastating 120-square-kilometre McDougall Creek fire in West Kelowna.He said when his task force leader found out that he was supposed to attend the ceremony over Zoom, he made sure to plan around it.“He had the rest of the task force going to different spots and we picked a spot close to the city so that we could have cell reception properly,” Roos said in an interview. He would become a citizen ...

Yellowknife mayor says it’s too unsafe for residents to return to the capital city

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

YELLOWKNIFE — The mayor of Yellowknife says it’s not safe for residents to go home to the territorial capital, but notes city officials are working on a return plan as a fire continues to burn about 15 kilometres away.Most of the residents in the city of 20,000 evacuated by air or road late last week to cities and towns as far south as Calgary and as far east as Winnipeg.“Of course, the question that everyone wants to know is when can we come home?” Rebecca Alty told reporters at a briefing Tuesday evening.The return plan, she said, has two parts.“One is fire safety and two is ensuring essential services are back up and operational,” said Alty.“We started our planning on Friday and we’ll continue working on it until we can welcome residents back. Unfortunately, for now, it’s not safe to return so residents should remain where they are.”Alty noted she took a flight Tuesday over the fire breaks along Yellowknife’s municipal b...

Back-to-school shoppers expected to head back to stores but pull back on spending

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

TORONTO — The stationary aisles are expected to be busier this year as parents and students return to in-store shopping when stocking up on back-to-school essentials, though their baskets may be a little less full. The annual shopping ritual comes as rising costs for food and housing squeeze optional spending plans for many households.A survey by the Retail Council of Canada found that about 73.6 per cent of back-to-school shoppers plan to spend more than $50 this year, down from about 77 per cent last year. And while last year shoppers planned to spend the most on clothing, books and music and electronics, this year stationary is expected to be the top spending category, with 61 per cent saying that’s where they’ll direct the biggest chunk of their school shopping dollars. Last year stationary didn’t even make it into the top 10 of categories in the survey, which polled more than 9,000 Canadian adults on Caddle Inc.’s mobile platform and online panel, which ...

Daily horoscope for August 23, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

Moon Alert: Avoid shopping and important decisions after 10 p.m. PDT today. The Moon is in Scorpio.Happy Birthday for Wednesday, August 23, 2023You are kind, generous, compassionate and hardworking. Your willpower and determination give you self-discipline. This is a slower-paced year. It’s time to rest and rejuvenate your energy. Focus on your closest relationships and make sure they are people who have your best interests at heart.ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★Despite your increasing desire to get better organized and be as efficient and productive as possible in everything that you do, in the next few weeks, Mercury retrograde will stir up some problems and create silly, goofy mistakes. This will be frustrating. Be patient with yourself. (It’s minor stuff.) Tonight: Productivity!TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★★★Your focus on romance, social outings, fun activities, sports, the arts and playful times with children will increase in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, Mercury retrog...

Commission clears creation of joint venture by Scania and sennder

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the creation of a greenfield joint venture by Scania CV AB (‘Scania') of Sweden and sennder Techologies GmbH (‘sennder') of Germany.The joint venture will supply heavy-duty battery electric vehicles (‘BEV') based on a pay-per-use-model along with associated digital, physical, and commercial services. Initially, it will be active in Germany and later on it will roll out its services in other European countries. Scania, part of the Volkswagen Group, is a worldwide developer and manufacturer of trucks and buses, including BEVs, and a provider of vehicle financing, insurance, and rental services. sennder is a digital road freight forwarder providing a wide range of full truck load services to shippers across Europe.The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, given its limited impact on the market. The transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure....

Miss Manners: We had cleared dinner, and then this guest walked in

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: What would you do if you were hosting a dinner party, invited the guests, and one guest RSVP’d: “I would love to come. However, I have another engagement, so I will be late.”Related ArticlesAdvice | Miss Manners: The neighbors ask if this rich woman left me anything. She did, but I don’t want to tell them. Advice | Miss Manners: Our friend doesn’t have a husband but she still wants the big bedroom Advice | Miss Manners: Shouldn’t I be the one to decide if my kid is being rude? Advice | Miss Manners: The bride told me to lie to her fiance about why I can’t be ‘best woman’ Advice | Miss Manners: How do I tell them I won’t serve the fancy dessert they brought? The guest arrived late by one hour and 30 minutes. We had put away the food from the dinner and had begun to serve dessert.However, the late-arriving guest said she was hun...

‘I do worry’: Virginia’s Warner on Gov. Youngkin’s fundraising power

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

Early voting gets underway in a month across Virginia for this year’s legislative elections, which will decide political control of the state’s currently divided General Assembly.The election is set for Nov. 7, with early voting starting on Sept. 22.“We’ve got a House of Delegates that we could take back or a Senate that we could lose,” said Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat.The Virginia House is currently controlled by the GOP with 49 Republicans, 46 Democrats and five vacancies.Of the 40 seats, there are 22 Democrats and 18 Republicans in the Senate.All 140 seats in the entire General Assembly will be on the ballot in November’s election.Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has made it clear that one of his main political priorities is to work toward flipping the Senate. In order to do that, Republicans would need to flip two seats currently held by Democrats.That would force a 20-20 tie in the chamber that could be broken by Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome...

Pirates aim to sweep series against the Cardinals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

St. Louis Cardinals (55-72, fifth in the NL Central) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (57-69, fourth in the NL Central)Pittsburgh; Wednesday, 12:35 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Zack Thompson (2-5, 3.90 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 39 strikeouts); Pirates: Luis L. Ortiz (0-0)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Cardinals -123, Pirates +103; over/under is 9 1/2 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Pirates will try to sweep a three-game series with a victory against the St. Louis Cardinals.Pittsburgh has a 31-32 record in home games and a 57-69 record overall. The Pirates have a 28-51 record in games when they have allowed at least one home run.St. Louis is 55-72 overall and 27-35 in road games. The Cardinals have the fifth-best team on-base percentage in MLB play at .331.Wednesday’s game is the 10th time these teams meet this season. The Pirates are up 7-2 in the season series.TOP PERFORMERS: Bryan Reynolds has 26 doubles, four triples and 18 home runs while hitting .268 for the Pirates. Andrew McCutchen...