Homeless, injured birds fly anew at Great Lakes Pigeon Rescue: ‘They are really clean creatures’

Homeless, injured birds fly anew at Great Lakes Pigeon Rescue: ‘They are really clean creatures’ OSWEGO, Ill. — In the hands of owner Blanca Uribe, a retired racing pigeon named Astrid gets the exercise she needs through “happy flappies,” moving her wings while being held because she’s paralyzed, and can’t use her legs or feet. Astrid is one of several special needs pigeons cared for or fostered by Uribe and her husband, Guillermo Alvarez, at their Oswego home, through the non-profit organization Great Lakes Pigeon Rescue. “I’ve loved pigeons since always; I’m a bird person,” Uribe said. “But my husband, he developed a love for pigeons; he loves me, so he loves the pigeons now.” Uribe serves as medical director and vice president of Great Lakes Pigeon Rescue, founded by Chicago-area pigeon enthusiasts. The multi-state rescue and foster network serves homeless domestic pigeons as well as injured, non-releasable feral pigeons in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan. “We just started a network, started to get to know each other, and just decided to go for it to give the pigeons a better chance,” Uribe said.

Baltimore bridge collapse probe moves from recovery mode to salvage operation, 4 still missing

BALTIMORE — Crews in Baltimore are starting to remove the wreckage at the site of Tuesday’s collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Investigators also plan to continue interviewing Dali crew members aboard the ship. This, while we learn more about the six construction workers caught in the collapse. Two of the victims’ bodies recovered Wednesday, and four are still missing and are others presumed dead. Those construction workers were members of the community and had families who relied on them, according to Maryland officials. As he was moving off of the bridge and literally saw the bridge fall right after he moved off. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) So far, the youngest victim we know of is 26 years old. Crews were back out Thursday to recover those unaccounted for and to begin the process of reopening this busy port. MORE | 10 other ships stuck in Port of Baltimore This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows a view of the Francis Scott Key Bridge that was struck by a container ship in Baltimore, Md., on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. Maxaar Technologies via

Home Depot buying supplier to professional contractors in a deal valued at about $18.25B

McKINNEY, Texas — Home Depot will buy SRS Distribution, a materials provider for professionals, in a deal valued at approximately $18.25 billion. It is Home Depot’s largest acquisition in its history and with it, it steps more aggressively into the fast growing professional builder and contactor business. SRS provides materials for professionals like roofers, landscapers and pool contractors. Home Depot is making a big bet on a housing market that is suffering a severe lack of new homes, which has driven prices sky high. The median sales price for new homes in the U.S. has climbed 29.4% over the past five years. In the fourth quarter, the median sales prices totaled $417,700, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The U.S. housing market is coming off a deep, 2-year sales slump triggered by one-two punch of so few homes and sharp rise in mortgage rates. The overall decline in rates since their peak last fall has opened a tiny window for some, though a home remains out of reach for millions of Americans. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in

People are living longer. Here’s how to stay current on the topic of aging

The topic of aging seems to be everywhere and relevant to almost every aspect of life. That was not the case in the mid-1970s when I started in the field. Being a newcomer at the time, I decided to get a sense of what was considered newsworthy and important by tracking age-related happenings in the print media. I clipped articles from four daily newspapers and occasional periodicals, cut and pasted them (literally) on a sheet of paper, noted the source and date, punched three holes in the single sheet of paper and inserted the sheet into a three-ring binder. (Yes, this is history.) In addition to reading research studies and reports, I felt this was one way to be informed about what was happening “on the ground.”  In year one, I barely filled one binder. As time passed, I was filling three to four binders a year. Enter the I nternet. Cut and past became digital. Today, there is not a day that goes by in print or digital news that does not have several age-related stories. These stories cover public policy, health, longevity, nutrition

Warriors’ Draymond Green takes ownership for Orlando ejection on podcast

In a new podcast episode posted Thursday morning, Draymond Green took ownership of his latest on-court outburst, which earned him an ejection than four minutes into a game the prior night against the Orlando Magic. “Just can’t do it,” Green said on his show. “Regardless of what was said — I’m not going to get into what was said, because that’s irrelevant. To Steph’s point, I have to be on the floor. Whatever that means, you just have to do that. I’m not overreacting to this because of everything that happened in the beginning of the season. I feel like since I’ve returned, everything’s heading in the right direction. Hit a little bump in the road, get over it and keep going.” Despite losing Green and already missing Jonathan Kuminga due to knee tendinitis, the Warriors rallied to a 101-93 victory. Andrew Wiggins stepped up to deliver 13 points in the fourth quarter and several complementary players — Trayce Jackson-Davis, Gary Payton II, Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody — elevated their games. Green was arguing with Ray Acosta after a foul call that gave Palo

San Jose Sharks winger’s season in question after latest injury

Alexander Barabanov’s often frustrating season – and his tenure with the San Jose Sharks – is in question as coach David Quinn said Thursday the winger is now considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Barabanov was injured Tuesday as he blocked a shot in the second period of the Sharks’ home game against the Dallas Stars. Barabanov did not play in the third period as the Sharks lost 6-3, marking their eighth straight defeat. Barabanov, who was spotted wearing a protective boot after Tuesday’s game, did not travel to Minnesota as the Sharks begin a two-game road trip against the Wild on Thursday. San Jose also plays in St. Louis on Saturday night. Even though the Sharks only have 10 games and three weeks left in the regular season after Thursday, Quinn did not want to rule Barabanov out from returning to the team. “As far as the rest of the season, hopefully, he can get better this week,” said Quinn, who declined to say whether Barabanov had an X-ray on the injured area. “When we say week-to-week, hopefully, it’s just this week and not

Book review: A Diana Spencer impersonator gets in a casino full of trouble in ‘Princess of Las Vegas’

By Chris Hewitt, Star Tribune Chris Bohjalian has a type. His recent thrillers are about glamorous, imperiled women who may not be trustworthy but whose senses of humor makes us like them anyway. The author of “The Flight Attendant” and “The Lioness” is true to type with “The Princess of Las Vegas,” who has an adventure that is as dangerous and improbable as those experienced by the heroines of Bohjalian’s previous books. She’s Crissy Dowling, who exploits her resemblance to Diana Spencer in a Vegas cabaret act where she sings British pop songs, tells stories about royals and avoids mentioning the fact that Diana is, um, dead. Quite a few unlikely things happen in “Princess,” in which every character has at least one secret as big as that crazy orb thing that now dominates the Vegas strip: Crissy’s sister Betsy is almost an exact double who suddenly moves to Sin City with her unscrupulous lover. The mob wants to swallow Crissy’s low-rent casino. Betsy has a recently adopted daughter who may not be what she seems. And Crissy’s former lovers include a senator who’s in