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Here’s how the DC region’s birthrate looks compared to the nation

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:47 GMT

The birthrate across the United States has been dropping for a while.According to new figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 2007 and 2022, the nationwide rate went down from 14.3 births per 1,000 people to 11.1 birthsThat is a 22.9% decrease.“In the wake of the Great Recession, U.S. fertility tanked,” said Brad Wilcox, professor of sociology at the University of Virginia. “That was not a surprise to anyone, because when the economy is in distress, people tend to have fewer babies.”However, the downward trend continued even after the economy rebounded.“It has kind of left us scratching our heads about what is driving fertility down,” Wilcox said.While the D.C. region had a similar decrease compared to the national figures between 2007 and 2022, it was not as steep as the 22.9% drop that was seen across the country.In D.C. and Virginia, the drop was about 22%, and it was 19% in Maryland, according to the CDC.Wilcox sai...

Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara will miss the 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:47 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara will miss the 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on Friday to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.“I give this game my all,” the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner said in a social media post. “I give this city my all, and so I promise I will not take a day off as I push to be back better than ever.”Alcantara started experiencing discomfort in his arm during a Sept. 3 outing against Washington in which he pitched eight innings. His injury was initially reported as a forearm strain, but was later diagnosed as a UCL sprain — an injury that typically requires Tommy John ligament-replacement surgery. His timeline for return was unknown as he’d hoped to rejoin Miami for a late-season playoff push. Alcantara experienced forearm tightness following rehab outing with Triple-A Jacksonville on Sept. 21, and the setback ended his season.“Very frustrating for me, a guy who likes to compete,” Alcant...

Denver brewery celebrates gold-medal win at Great American Beer Festival

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:47 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado breweries brought home the most hardware in recent memory at last month's Great American Beer Festival, which brings in more business.Colorado brought home 40 medals during the festival, the most since 2017 and up from 26 the year before. One of the gold-winning breweries, Seedstock Brewery, brought home an award for its Marzen beer. These Halloween pop-up bars are open in Denver The brewery is one of 14 in the state that took home gold, bringing in full bars and a ton of business.Adam McIlvenna, Seedstock's owner, is fairly humble about the big win. "I can actually say right now that I have the best Marzen in the country, which is still really weird to say, and I’m not really good at that kind of thing, but it feels good," McIlvenna said.German-style beers like the Marzen are the brewery's specialty. "We’re mostly known for lagers here — long fermentation, a lot of time aging. So we try to make sure we give all of the beers as much time as they need. We d...

Banana Catchup at Wynwood’s 1-800-LUCKY to celebrate Filipino culture, cuisine

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:47 GMT

The Philippines are gorgeous. For some, they might also think about singer Bruno Mars or Miami Heat’s coach Spo — they’re both Filipino.Well, one par-tay will change your perception of the Philippines — one bite at a time. The first annual Filipino Block Party, called The Banana Catchup, is this Sunday, and we have a preview of the tasty vibes.Jo Koy: “My mom’s Tupperware? Usually an empty Cool Whip container.”You don’t have to whip out random containers like Filipino comedian Jo Koy to get a taste of Filipino food.Because everyone is invited to savor on all the island goodness at this Filipino block party, called The Banana Catchup?Nicole Ponseca, owner of Jeepney pop-up: “There’s a really popular condiment that we eat in the Philippines, and it’s called banana ketchup. And while I was trying to think of a way to put the bat signal out and what we would call this party … ‘Banana,’ ‘Banana Catchup.&#...

Multiple people bit by rabid fox in Rochester, NH

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:47 GMT

Authorities in New Hampshire say a fox behind several attacks in the city of Rochester has tested positive for rabies.Officials with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said multiple people were bit when a fox aggressively pursued locals earlier in the week.“This guy was biting at car tires, he was biting at mailbox posts and he was chasing people in various locations around the city,” said NHFG’s Colonel Kevin Jordan.“All of a sudden, she said ‘Something’s biting me, something’s biting me,'” Ryan Snyder told 7NEWS, describing how his wife was one of the victims bit.Sharing images of the bite wounds, he said she had been sitting outside their home when it happened and that the animal appeared to pursue the family as they ran indoors.“Our two girls were there and my in-laws, and so we ran inside and got through the sliding glass door and actually, it followed us,” he said. “It would have probably come in the hou...

3 things we heard from Chicago Bears coach Matt Eberflus, including consideration of defensive coaching help and Khalil Herbert’s injury

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:47 GMT

The Chicago Bears receive a small break after their first win of the season, a 40-20 victory against the Washington Commanders on Thursday night in Landover, Md.After playing two games in five days, the Bears have 10 days before their Week 6 game against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field. Coach Matt Eberflus met with reporters Friday to talk about the end to his team’s 14-game losing streak and what’s ahead.Here are three things we learned.1. Matt Eberflus said the Bears are having conversations about whether they will bring in another defensive coach.With the Bears’ official bye week set for Week 13, they will use this “mini-bye” to regroup.Eberflus said part of that review will include identifying whether they will bring in any outside help for his defense after the resignation of coordinator Alan Williams in Week 3. He said the Bears are “working through that right now.”“We’re having conversations on that,”...

Oregon seeks $27M for dam repair it says resulted in mass death of Pacific lamprey fish

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:47 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon officials are seeking more than $27 million in damages over dam repairs they say killed more than half a million Pacific lamprey fish in what they’ve described as one of the largest damages claims for illegal killing of wildlife in state history.In a claim filed in Douglas County Circuit Court on Friday, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said that recent repairs to Winchester Dam in the southern part of the state resulted in the death of at least 550,000 juvenile Pacific lamprey, an eel-like fish key to local ecosystems and of cultural significance to many Native American tribes in the region. The fish is also listed as a protected species in Oregon.“The North Umpqua River’s diverse fish populations are unique within Oregon and are of considerable social, cultural, and economic importance locally and regionally,” the fish and wildlife department said in a news release. “The damages claim seeks reparation for the loss of a valuable public r...

Judge denies Texas inmate’s request to stop execution over claims that fire damaged injection drugs

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:47 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday denied a request to stop the execution of a Texas inmate who had alleged in a lawsuit that the drugs he is to be injected with next week were exposed to extreme heat and smoke during a recent fire, making them unsafe.The Texas Attorney General’s Office says testing done after the fire on samples of the state’s supplies of pentobarbital, the drug used in executions, showed they “remain potent and sterile.”Jedidiah Murphy, 48, is scheduled to be executed Tuesday. He was condemned for the fatal October 2000 shooting of 80-year-old Bertie Lee Cunningham, of Garland, a Dallas suburb, during a carjacking.In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Austin, Murphy’s attorneys allege that during an Aug. 25 fire that caused “catastrophic damage” to the administration building of a prison unit in Huntsville, the execution drugs the state uses were exposed to excessively high temperatures, smoke and water.Records from the Texas Department of Crimina...

2 teens indicted on murder, battery charges in fatal hit-and-run of bicyclist captured on video

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:47 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Two teenagers were indicted Friday and charged as adults with several felonies, including murder and auto theft, after allegedly recording the moment they targeted and fatally struck a bicyclist in a Las Vegas hit-and-run.Police have said they tied the teens, who were 17 and 16 at the time, to at least three hit-and-run incidents the morning of Aug. 14. The indictment expands on the charges the teens were already facing. The Associated Press is not naming the teens because of their age at the time of the alleged crimes. Messages seeking comment that were left late Friday with the teens’ attorneys, P. David Westbrook and Daniel Hill, were not immediately returned.The alleged hit-and-run incidents include the crash that killed cyclist Andreas “Andy” Probst, a 64-year-old retired former police chief from the city of Bell, outside Los Angeles, who was pedaling along the side of a road when he was hit.The video, shot from the front passenger seat of an allegedly s...

Graziano's Brick Oven Pizza to close permanently in late October

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:47 GMT

COOK COUNTY, Ill. — Graziano's Brick Oven Pizza, a restaurant that has been in Edgebrook for 30 years, announced that it is closing its doors for good this month.The restaurant, which is located in the 5900 block of West Touhy Avenue, shared the announcement on the company's social media accounts on Friday. See the progress of the Arlington Park demolition According to the post, the restaurant will remain open until Monday, Oct 23.The post details that the restaurant will be closing to make space for a new retail development, however, it did not provide details on what would be coming.