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Chamber of Commerce unveils second city council report card

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:30 GMT

The Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce has released the second edition of their City Council Report Card. The chamber launched the report card this year as a way to provide a short summary of business-related decisions made by council and keep local business owners informed of how council is serving Kingston’s business community. The document also provides a ranking of “green” (resulted in positive business outcomes), “yellow” (contained potential business concerns), or “red” (resulted in negative business outcomes) for each decision. This is a quarterly document, with this edition containing decisions made in May, June, and July 2023.In this time period, 13 business-related motions came before council. Of those motions, seven motions were declared “green,” while five were marked “yellow” and one was marked “red.” The overall rating for the quarter was “yellow,” a slight drop from the ove...

‘Unearthed’ series aims to spark conversations around Belle Park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:30 GMT

The Belle Park Project, a team of researchers who do work surrounding Belle Park, are introducing a series of events including artistic projects and conversations surrounding the site in the next week.The series, entitled “Unearthed,” aims to foster discussions around complicated natural and political histories of the park.Belle Park was built fifty years ago on a landfill that had previously been a wetland for thousands of years. The city has since wrestled with the direction they want to take the space, with the park still having an uncertain future.Six artists will be presenting their work, seeking to reveal and imagine some of the stories of Belle Park and urging audiences to connect the history of the park with current social and environmental issues.Dr. Laura Murray, professor in English and co-director of the Cultural Studies program at Queen’s University and co-lead on the Belle Park project, spoke about the series in an interview with CFRC.“We know that people will ta...

Simone Biles makes history after winning record 8th all-around national title at US Gymnastics Championships

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:30 GMT

(CNN) — Simone Biles won a record eighth national all-around title with a strong performance Sunday at the US Gymnastics Championships in San Jose, California.Twenty-six-year-old Biles also became the oldest woman to ever win the championships when she finished 3.9 points ahead of Shilese Jones, the all-around silver medalist at the 2022 US and world championships.The eighth title for Biles breaks the record she shared with Alfred Jochim, who won his seventh all-around gold medal 90 years ago in 1933.Even after a long absence from major competition, Biles showed an assuredness in her performances and the four-time Olympic gold medalist dominated the field Friday and Sunday. She locked up the all-around crown with a 15.400 in her breathtaking floor exercise that drew a standing ovation.Biles continues her return to competitive gymnastics after a two-year hiatus following the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, when she pulled out of several events suffering from what is known as the “twis...

A trial is underway that could be ‘the last roll of the dice’ for an HIV vaccine this decade

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:30 GMT

(CNN) — A novel trial that has been described as “the last roll of the dice” for a generation of HIV vaccines has entered its latter stages.Called PrEPVacc, the trial is testing two vaccines alongside two forms of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to test vaccine efficacy while offering protection to prevent the spread of HIV.African-led and coordinated out of Entebbe, Uganda, with international support, its success could mark the start of a new phase of vaccine development. Should it fail, it could also see immunologists give up on a generation of vaccines.Nearly 40 years since HIV was identified as the cause of AIDS, and 36 years since the first HIV vaccine trial, the medical community still does not have a working vaccine. Although antiretroviral treatments are well established, access varies. UNAIDS estimates 630,000 people died from AIDS-related illness globally in 2022, while 39 million people are living with HIV, including 1.3 million people newly ...

Tour Championship: Viktor Hovland wins PGA Tour finale and $18 million FedEx Cup prize

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:30 GMT

(CNN) — Norwegian Viktor Hovland fended off a late surge by American Xander Schauffele to finish at 27 under par and win the Tour Championship on Sunday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.With the victory, Hovland becomes the third-youngest FedEx Cup champion in history and claims the $18 million first place prize.“It’s just pretty surreal to be standing here right now, you know, playing basically my best golf the last two weeks and couldn’t have happened at a better moment in front of all these people,” Hovland told the CBS broadcast after the end of the PGA Tour finale.The 25-year-old Hovland entered the final round with a six-stroke lead, which tied the largest 54-hole lead in the FedEx Cup starting strokes era, after shooting a 4-under 66 in Saturday’s third round.After a one hour and 53-minute weather delay on Sunday, play resumed at East Lake where Schauffele birdied seven of his first 12 holes to cut Hovland’s lead to three strokes.However, after birdieing four of his fir...

Police identify 20-year-old man killed in violent Salem crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:30 GMT

Police have identified the 20-year-old man who was killed in a violent car crash in Salem on Sunday.Officers responding to a reported single-vehicle crash on Puritan Road around 6 p.m. say the driver, Korey Ouelette, of Salem, died of his injuries, according to police.The crash remains under investigation by the Criminal Investigation Division, as well as the Massachusetts State Police Accident Reconstruction Team.A man who tried to render aid to the victim said he did what he could to help him after the crash.“I smashed the back window and unlocked the doors and there was a three-inch hole right through the kid’s neck,” the witness said. “I just held his head and there’s nothing you can do.”The cause of the crash remains under investigation.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

3 takeaways from the Chicago Cubs’ series win over the Pittsburgh Pirates: Cody Bellinger is an RBI machine, Keegan Thompson shows good stuff in return

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:30 GMT

Jordan Wicks was still embracing the highs of his major-league debut 12 hours after a memorable night at PNC Park.The Chicago Cubs’ lefty set up the Cubs to go for the series win Sunday against the Pirates after striking out nine in five innings Saturday to earn his first victory. His performance prompted so many messages that he joked Sunday it would take five-to-seven business days to get back to everyone.The Sunday getaway vibes haven’t always been great this year, but the spirits were high following a 10-1 win to improve Cubs’ Sunday record to 6-15 as they return to Wrigley Field for a three-game series versus the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers.1. Cody Bellinger is in rare company in franchise history as a run-producing forceCody Bellinger’s consistency in the middle of the Cubs lineup has been a driving force in their success and postseason contention.Coming through with runners on base is a big part of why he’s been such a dangerous threat thi...

Florida shooting victim planned to spend Saturday with his daughter. He was killed before he could.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:30 GMT

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jerrald Gallion planned to spend the weekend with his 4-year-old daughter but the devoted father was instead one of three Black people gunned down Saturday afternoon at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida.Gallion, 29, was shot as he entered the store’s front door with his girlfriend in a predominantly Black neighborhood. The killing marked him as another victim in the latest racist attack in the U.S. “My brother shouldn’t have lost his life,” his sister, Latiffany Gallion, said Sunday. “A simple day of going to the store, and he’s taken away from us forever.”The gunman, 21-year-old Ryan Palmeter, opened fire Saturday using guns he bought legally despite a past involuntary commitment for a mental health exam. Authorities say he left behind white supremacist ramblings that read like “the diary of a madman.”The other two people slain were identified as Angela Michelle Carr, 52, who was shot in her car, and store employee Anolt Joseph “AJ” Lag...

Simone Biles wins a record 8th US Gymnastics title a full decade after her first

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:30 GMT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A decade later, Simone Biles is still on top.The gymnastics star won her record eighth U.S. Championship on Sunday night, 10 years after she first ascended to the top of her sport as a teenage prodigy.Biles, now a 26-year-old newlywed considered perhaps the greatest of all time, posted an all-around two-day total of 118.40, four points clear of runner-up Shilese Jones. Florida junior Leanne Wong claimed third, bolstering her chances of making a third straight world championship team.Biles is all but assured of returning to the gym where she captured her first world title in 2013. Over the course of two electric nights at the SAP Center, she served notice that even after a two-year break following the Tokyo Olympics, in gymnastics there is the one referred to as the GOAT and there is everyone else.Biles became the oldest woman to win a national title since USA Gymnastics began organizing the event in 1963. Her eight crowns moved her past Alfred Jochim, who won...

Illinois toddler drowns at Lake of the Ozarks on Sunday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:30 GMT

LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. - A 2-year-old Fairview Heights, Illinois, boy drowned Sunday morning at Lake of the Ozarks.The incident happened in the Grand Glaize Arm of the lake at 9:45 a.m., according to a report by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.State troopers responded to a call about an unresponsive child found in the lake around the 7.4 mile marker. The boy was rushed to Lake Regional Hospital but pronounced dead by 11:30 a.m.Investigators learned the child wandered away from his family and went into the water.