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Dyrt’s top campgrounds in New England

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:05:25 GMT

Avid campers are painfully aware of how challenging it has become to secure camping reservations over the past three years. Now we know just how much.Getting a spot was five times harder in 2022 than before the pandemic, according to an annual survey conducted by The Dyrt, a popular camping website and app with 30 million visitors annually.The Dyrt’s 2023 Camping Report, which is based on a random survey of 3,000 Dyrt users and a separate survey of camping property managers in all 50 states, found that sleeping under the stars is more popular than ever. The Dyrt says an estimated 80 million people went camping in the U.S. last year, 7.2 million for the first time. More than 15 million went camping for the first time in the past two years.More than 58.4% of respondents said they had a hard time finding campsites in 2022. That number was only 10.6% in 2019.“The thing that strikes me the most is the continued uptick of camping, which makes me really happy because I truly believe the ou...

Dear Abby: GF has mystery relationship with neighbor

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:05:25 GMT

Dear Abby: My girlfriend, “Jana,” and I have been together for 18 years. We live in a small community. About a year ago, a young single guy moved in next door. Jana and “Aiden” took an immediate liking to each other. She’s 64, and he’s 35.Aiden is on permanent disability, has never had a job and is heavily into drugs. He does odd things like walking down the middle of the street draped in blue lights and sitting in the middle of the street. The police have been called on him so many times he was almost kicked out of the neighborhood.He and Jana were together all the time — calling, texting and talking in person. They don’t meet so often now because we’ve had so many arguments about it. I was jealous in the beginning. Now I just don’t like her hanging out with him.She still calls and talks to him, but now she does it only when I’m not around. There doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it. He’s always ...

Callahan: Celtics in real danger after dropping Game 1 to tougher, smarter Heat

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:05:25 GMT

Remember them?The zombie Heat, who spooked the Celtics into the scare of a basketball lifetime last year in Game 7?Well, they’re back, and scarier than ever.The Walking Dead rebooted for a surprise 12th season Wednesday night at TD Garden, when the Heat stole Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Boston 123-116. Miami’s formula felt painfully familiar. The Heat were tougher, smarter and better-coached — again.The memory of Jayson Tatum’s spectacular 51-point performance last Sunday faded instantly into another episode of the Playoff Jimmy Butler Show.Butler proved unsolvable, scoring 35 points around seven assists and six steals. He swiped three passes in the fourth quarter alone, helping expedite yet another crunch-time collapse for these Celtics. Meanwhile, Tatum committed three turnovers in a 90-second span down the stretch, and after his last giveaway, Butler drilled a dagger 3 to lift Miami into a 10-point lead with 1:03 left.The Heat led for the entirety...

Loud explosions heard as Russia targets Kyiv with cruise missiles, debris causes building fire

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:05:25 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Loud explosions were heard in Kyiv early Thursday morning, and the city’s Military Administration said falling debris caused a fire in a non-residential building.The scope of the Russian attack against the capital was unclear, and there was no immediate information on casualties.It was the ninth time this month that Russian air raids have targeted the capital, a clear escalation after weeks of lull and ahead of a much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive using newly supplied advanced Western weapons.The attack was carried out by strategic bombers from the Caspian region, probably using cruise missiles, and Russia later deployed reconnaissance craft over the capital. According to preliminary information, all enemy targets were destroyed, Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv Military Administration said in a Telegram post.Debris fell on two districts and the fire at a garage complex was extinguished. There was no information so far about any victims, Popko said.Earlie...

Alaska lawmakers pass bill to keep gun shops open during disasters if other businesses are

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:05:25 GMT

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska lawmakers on Wednesday passed legislation that seeks to block state and local officials from closing gun stores during disasters declared by the governor, unless such closures apply to all other businesses. The bill, HB61, is a response to business closures in Alaska and other states during the pandemic, according to a statement from House Speaker Cathy Tilton, a Wasilla Republican and the bill’s sponsor. Several other states have adopted similar bills.The bill was one of the last debated by lawmakers in the waning days of the 121-day regular legislative session, which was set to end Wednesday. It was backed by the lobbying arm of the National Rifle Association and criticized as a “special rights” bill by state Sen. Jesse Kiehl, a Juneau Democrat. The measure passed the Senate 17-3 on Tuesday and was returned to the House for a concurrence vote. The House agreed 28-12 to pass the bill late Wednesday.Last year a federal appeals court panel ruled tha...

Asian stocks follow Wall St higher on hopes for US debt deal

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:05:25 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher on Thursday on hopes U.S. political leaders can reach agreement to avoid a potentially disastrous default on government debt.Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced. Oil prices edged lower.Wall Street rallied Wednesday after President Joe Biden expressed confidence “America will not default” despite lack of agreement on Republican demands for cuts in aid to poor families to pay for food, medical care and rent in exchange for raising the amount the government can borrow.“Markets are now fully pricing an in-time resolution of the crisis,” said Clifford Bennett of ACY Securities in a report. “No one wants to sell ahead of an announcement of a deal being made.”Speaker Kevin McCarthy of the House of Representatives said Tuesday the two sides were far apart but could reach a deal by the end of the week. The U.S. government will run out of cash if they don’t agree by June 1 to increase its borrowing limit.Any...

Wisconsin tribe to ask court to shut down oil pipeline

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:05:25 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Attorneys for a Wisconsin Native American tribe are set to argue Thursday that a federal judge should order an energy company to shut down an oil pipeline that the tribe says is at immediate risk of being exposed by erosion and rupturing on reservation land.The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa asked U.S. District Judge William Conley last week to issue an emergency ruling forcing Enbridge to shut down the Line 5 pipeline after large chunks of riverbank running alongside it were washed away by the river in northern Wisconsin.The tribe says less than 15 feet (4.6 meters) of land now stands between the Bad River and Line 5 in four locations on the reservation. In some places, more than 20 feet (6 meters) of riverbank has eroded in the past month alone. Experts and environmental advocates have warned in court that an exposed section of pipeline would be weakened and could rupture at any time, causing massive oil spills.Enbridge’s engineers contend that...

Biden to consult with Japan’s Kishida ahead of Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:05:25 GMT

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday will open his visit to a Japan that has tightened its economic and national security alliance with the U.S. by meeting privately with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ahead of the larger Group of Seven summit. Kishida’s home city of Hiroshima will play host to the gathering of major industrialized nations. The setting of Hiroshima, where the U.S. dropped the first nuclear bomb in 1945 during World War II, carries newfound resonance as the U.S., Japan and their allies strategize on dealing with Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, said the Russian invasion looms large, and would be a significant conversation during the summit. “There will be discussions about the battlefield,” Sullivan said aboard Air Force One, stressing that the G-7 leaders would work to seal off any loopholes in sanctions so their effect can be maximized. “There’ll be discussions abou...

New Hampshire House voting on whether parents who ask must be told about transgender talk at school

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:05:25 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The national debate surrounding transgender students and parental rights returns to the New Hampshire Statehouse on Thursday.The House is set to vote on a bill to create a “Parents’ Bill of Rights” similar to those already enacted by Republican-led legislatures in multiple states. It passed the GOP-dominated Senate in March along party lines but faces an uncertain future in the 400-member House, where Republicans have a razor-thin majority.Much of the debate has focused on whether to require school officials — when asked by parents — to disclose that their child is using a different name or being referred to as being a different gender.“Parents who ask such questions likely already suspect that their children are having problematic issues in this area, so this bill is not an effort to ‘out’ such students,” Republican Rep. Arlene Quartatiello wrote in remarks printed in the House calendar ahead of the vote. “It is, rather, an effort to empower a partnership betwe...

US metros are growing, many reversing 2021 drops, new estimates show

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:05:25 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The flight from urban areas that took place during the first year of the pandemic either reversed or slowed in its second year, as last year metropolitan areas in Texas and Florida boomed and declines in New York and Los Angeles were halved, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.During the first full year of the pandemic in 2021, more than half of the 20 largest U.S. metro areas lost residents, and all U.S. metro areas grew by just 0.1%, as fear of the virus sent residents fleeing the most densely-populated urban areas and the popularity of remote work allowed people to live far from their workplaces.By comparison, only eight of the 20 largest metro areas decreased in 2022, and the growth rate for all U.S. metros was 0.4%. Among the largest U.S. metros that had gains in 2022 after experiencing losses in 2021 were Washington, Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Seattle, Minneapolis and San Diego, according to 2022 population estimates released Thursday by the...