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U.Md. program wants to reduce stigma around receiving mental health help

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:11 GMT

This is part of WTOP’s continuing coverage of people making a difference from our community authored by Stephanie Gaines-Bryant. Read more of that coverage.You may know how to give first aid physically when an adult or child is in an emergency situation, but do you know what to do when someone is having a mental crisis? A local group is teaching Maryland communities how to administer mental health first aid.Julie Slivka, community educator and project manager for the University of Maryland’s ROPTA Program. (Courtesy Julie Slivka)“We go out into the community and we work to elevate people’s knowledge base about behavioral health issues, whether those be mental health or substance use,” said Julie Slivka, community educator and project manager for the University of Maryland’s ROPTA Program.ROPTA stands for Reinforcing Overdose Prevention through Training and Advocacy.She said her organization is also trying to breakdown the barriers and stigmas when it co...

Dan de alta de un hospital al único sobreviviente de una presunta intoxicación por hongos mortales en Australia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:11 GMT

(CNN) — El único superviviente de un envenenamiento con presuntos hongos mortíferos que mató a otras tres personas en Australia fue dado de alta del hospital tras una notable recuperación que ahora podría ayudar a la Policía a reconstruir lo sucedido.Ian Watkins, un reverendo de 68 años, quedó gravemente enfermo a finales de julio después de ingerir una comida de carne Wellington en el pueblo rural de Leongatha que había sido cocinada y servida por Erin Patterson, según informó la policía de Victoria.A los pocos días, Gail Patterson, de 70 años, y su hermana Heather Wilkinson, de 66, murieron en el hospital, seguidos por el marido de Gail, Don, de 70 años, un día después.Watkins sobrevivió, estaba gravemente enfermo y supuestamente necesitaba un trasplante de hígado, pero se recuperó lo suficiente como para abandonar el hospital de Austin en Melbourne el pasado viernes, casi dos meses después.“Nos complace anunciar que Ian Wilkinson logró avances significativos en su recuperac...

Free at-home COVID tests are back: Here's how to get yours

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:11 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – After a months-long hiatus, a government website that allows American households to order free at-home COVID-19 tests is back online Monday. People can go to COVIDtests.gov to place their order of four rapid at-home tests per household, which will be delivered for free by the United States Postal Service. Once your order ships, you should get a tracking number sent to the email you include with your order. This is the fifth round of free at-home tests delivered by USPS. The Postal Service has delivered 755 million tests in previous rounds. Why you might want to wait to get the new COVID booster It's not clear how long the window to order new tests will be open, though the Department of Health and Human Services told the Associated Press it would be up for several months. Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at HHS, said the website will remain functional to receive orders through the holidays and “we reserve the right to keep it open ...

Denver City Council to vote on numerous contracts tied to homelessness

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:11 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — On Monday night, the Denver City Council will consider extending contracts and potentially increasing funding toward partnerships in an ongoing effort to combat homelessness.The contract proposals come alongside a busy week tackling the issue of homelessness in Denver.During the meeting Monday night, council members will vote on extending or creating contracts with local nonprofits like The Salvation Army, Volunteers for America, The Boys and Girls Club and the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, in an ongoing effort to end homelessness. Volunteers raise funds for food pantry at risk of closing amid rising costs Some contracts will go through 2026 and total more than $9 million. Next up on Tuesday morning, city workers are scheduled to clear out an encampment near the governor's mansion off 7th and Logan Street. A seven-day notice was posted on Sept. 19 that the camp will be cleared by Sept. 26.“Individuals will move from the encampments in this area into a hotel...

3 tips for taking the best fall photos

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:11 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Fall is in the air, and so are the changing leaves. Taking a picture doesn't necessarily last longer when the photos are worse than your memory. FOX31 spoke with a professional photographer and got a quick crash course on taking photos of the fall leaves. Denver’s pumpkin spice hysteria is just getting started Professional wildlife and landscape photographer John Williams talked about the basics you'll need to know to take a fall foliage photo.PlaceThe top rule to follow when taking pictures of fall leaves is to go somewhere that has them. Fall leaves are in the midst of changing and not everywhere you go will have peak foliage just yet.In late September, Williams recommends Lake Granby for its deep red colors. However, Lake Granby will only be in peak season until the end of September. After that, the Rockies will be the place to go, said Williams.Williams also recommends Highway 34, the road from Lake Granby to Monarch Lake, Cottonwood Pass in Granby and Gore Pas...

Russia puts international court’s top leadership on wanted list

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:11 GMT

Russia’s ministry of internal affairs has placed International Criminal Court (ICC) President Piotr Hofmański on its wanted list, according to the ministry’s online database.The site does not specify what Hofmański is wanted for, but it states he is “wanted under the article of the Criminal Code,” reported Russian state-run news site TASS. Alongside Hofmański, the ministry also added ICC Vice President Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza and judge Bertram Schmitt to the wanted list.Moscow has been retaliating against the ICC, which back in March issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova over the forced transfer of children to Russia since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began last year.Russia said it did not recognize the court’s authority and quickly responded to the arrest warrant by opening its own criminal case against the ICC prosecutors and judges.Since then, Russia has p...

Police investigating 4 assaults near Berklee College of Music in Boston

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:11 GMT

Four assaults in the area of the Berklee College of Music in Boston prompted officials to issue a warning to students over the weekend, putting many on high alert.Boston police officers responded to the music school around 6 p.m. Saturday after four people said they were assaulted on Massachusetts Avenue, Boylston Street, and Haviland Street, all within about a block of each other. All of the victims were treated on scene or didn’t need medical treatment.One of the assaults occurring right near Berklee police headquarters.A student telling 7NEWS the incident felt her feeling “very scared” because the attacks happened when she is normally walking back from class.In a message to the school community, officials shared an image of a person they believe is connected to at least one of the assaults. In a follow-up message, they assured students the person had been identified and the situation has been resolved. Boston police have not yet provided an update on the investi...

AG Campbell hasn’t made a decision on auditor’s lawsuit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:11 GMT

The attorney general has not yet determined whether she will represent the state’s auditor in her attempt to force the Legislature to comply with an audit of their affairs.Auditor Diane DiZoglio’s announcement earlier this year that she would begin the first audit of the state Legislature in decades was met with immediate dismissal from state lawmakers, who claimed the former legislator lacked the authority to look into another branch of government’s work. DiZoglio responded to the Legislature’s stonewalling of her efforts by asking the Attorney General to sue for their compliance.“This is a very serious decision,” Attorney General Andrea Campbell told WCVB on Sunday. “It’s rare that you have one branch of government looking to sue another branch of government. We’ve met with her, we’re reviewing her documents, we’ve also met with the Legislature and we’ll have a decision soon.”In March, DiZoglio said her office’s effort to look under the hood of the state Legislature would re...

Poland accuses Germany of meddling in its affairs by seeking answers on alleged visa scheme

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:11 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s foreign minister accused Germany of trying to interfere in his country’s internal affairs after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Warsaw needs to clarify allegations that Polish consulates in Africa and Asia sold temporary work visas to migrants for thousands of dollars each.Poland’s right-wing ruling party, Law and Justice, is facing questions about the alleged scheme ahead of an Oct. 15 national election in which it is seeking a third term in power.Scholz, whose government is under pressure to do more to limit migration to Germany, called on neighboring Poland on Saturday to provide clarification of what was happening.“I don’t want people to just be waved through from Poland and only for us to have a discussion about asylum policy afterward,” Scholz said in comments reported by the German news agency dpa.Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau retorted late Sunday on X, formerly Twitter, that Scholz’s statement “violates the pri...

What is behind renewed tensions between Serbia and Kosovo?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:11 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo flared anew over the weekend when some 30 heavily armed Serbs barricaded themselves in an Orthodox monastery in northern Kosovo, setting off a daylong gunbattle with police that left one officer and three attackers dead.Sunday’s clash was one of the worst since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. It came as the European Union and the U.S. are trying to mediate and finalize yearslong talks on normalizing ties between the two Balkan states.There are fears in the West of a revival of the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo that claimed more than 10,000 lives and left over 1 million homeless.Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti accused Serbia of sending the attackers into Kosovo. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic denied that, saying the men were Kosovo Serbs who have had enough of “Kurti’s terror.”A look at the history between Serbia and Kosovo, and why the latest tensions are a concern for Europe.WHY ARE SERBIA AND KOSOVO...