US national highway agency issues advisory over faulty air bag replacements in used cars

posted in: News | 0

Associated Press

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is warning drivers about “cheap, substandard replacement air bag inflators” in used cars that can fail to prevent serious injuries or death in a vehicle wreck.

The agency said Wednesday that three people have been killed and two suffered severe injuries in the past nine months due to substandard, aftermarket air bag inflators.

“If consumers own or are considering the purchase of a used vehicle, NHTSA urges them to learn their vehicle’s history and ensure their vehicle has genuine air bag inflators,” the agency said.

In each of the five cases in which someone was killed or injured, the vehicle had previously been involved in a crash and the original airbags were replaced. Malfunctioning airbag inflators sent “large metal fragments into drivers’ chests, necks, eyes and faces, killing or severely injuring drivers in otherwise survivable crashes,” according to NHTSA.

Other cheap inflators may deploy too slowly, or partially, meaning occupants of a vehicle may strike the dashboard or steering wheel in a collision.

Anyone in the hunt for a used vehicle should secure a vehicle history report, or do so now if they did not before buying a vehicle, the NHTSA said Wednesday.

If it is determined by a car dealership or a qualified mechanic that a vehicle has a faulty air bag inflator, the NHTSA advises replacing them and notifying a local Homeland Security Investigations office, or FBI field office.

Israeli military orders the evacuation of Gaza City, an early target of its war with Hamas

posted in: News | 0

By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli military urged all Palestinians to leave Gaza City and head south Wednesday, pressing ahead with a fresh offensive across the north, south and center of the embattled territory that has killed dozens of people over the past 48 hours.

The stepped-up military activity came as U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators were meeting with Israeli officials in the Qatari capital, Doha, for talks seeking a long-elusive cease-fire deal with Gaza’s Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Israel says it is pursuing Hamas fighters regrouping in various parts of Gaza nine months into the war. But heavy strikes in recent days along the length of the territory also could be aimed at hiking up pressure on Hamas in the cease-fire talks.

In a visit Wednesday to central Gaza, Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said forces were operating in different ways, in multiple parts of the territory “to carry out a very important mission: pressure. We will continue operating to bring home the hostages.”

Israel informed people in Gaza of the evacuation order by dropping leaflets urging “all those in Gaza City” to take two “safe routes” south to the area around the central town of Deir al-Balah. Gaza City, it said, will “remain a dangerous combat zone.”

Months ago, Israel ordered residents of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, to flee south, and much of the population left earlier in the war. Large parts of Gaza City and urban areas around it have been flattened or left a shattered landscape by previous Israeli assaults.

The United Nations says about 200,000 Palestinians have remained in the hard-hit north, and many say they have nowhere safe to go. Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are crammed into squalid tent camps in central and southern Gaza.

Israeli ground troops have pushed into parts of Gaza City in recent days, triggering the flight of thousands of Palestinians trying to escape shelling and airstrikes. This past week, the military ordered Palestinians to evacuate from eastern and central parts of the city. There was no immediate mass exodus out of the city following Wednesday’s order. Many Palestinians have concluded that there is no refuge in war-stricken Gaza.

The evacuation order came after a series of deadly strikes over the past two days in other parts of the territory. Israeli bombardment early Wednesday hit four houses in Deir al-Balah and the nearby Nuseirat refugee camp, killing 20 Palestinians.

Among the dead were six children and three women, according to officials at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the casualties were taken. An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies. The house hit in Deir al-Balah was inside the “humanitarian safe zone” where Israel has told Palestinians to flee for refuge.

The overnight bombardment came hours after Israeli warplanes struck the entrance of a school sheltering displaced families outside the southern city of Khan Younis. The toll from the strike rose to 31 people killed, including eight children, and more than 50 wounded, officials at the nearby Nasser Hospital said Wednesday.

Footage aired by Al Jazeera television showed kids playing soccer in the school’s yard when a sudden boom shook the area, prompting shouts of “a strike, a strike!”

The Israeli army said the airstrike near the school and reports of civilian casualties were under review. It claimed it was targeting a Hamas terrorists who took part in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war, though it provided no immediate evidence. The military blames civilian deaths on Hamas because they fight in dense, urban areas. But the army rarely comments on what it is targeting in individual strikes, which often kill women and children.

In nine months of bombardment and offensives in Gaza, Israel has killed more than 38,200 people and wounded more than 88,000, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. Nearly the entire population has been driven from their homes. Many have been displaced multiple times.

During the Oct. 7 raid, terrorists killed 1,200 people in southern Israel, most of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities. The terrorists took roughly 250 people hostage. About 120 are still in captivity, with about a third said to be dead.

Related Articles


Airstrike kills 25 in southern Gaza as Israeli assault on Gaza City shuts down medical facilities


Israeli protesters block highways, call for cease-fire to return hostages 9 months into war in Gaza


After 9 months of war, Israelis call for a cease-fire deal and elections


Hamas clears the way for a possible cease-fire in Gaza after dropping key demand, officials say


Bret Stephens: What would a better Israeli prime minister do?

Israel’s new ground assault in Gaza’s largest city has prompted what the U.N called a “dangerously chaotic” exodus of people scattering in multiple directions, unsure where to go. Some have fled to other parts of the north. The new Israeli military leaflets encouraged a mass movement south to the purported “humanitarian zone,” promising that people leaving Gaza City on the defined routes would not be stopped at Israeli checkpoints. Many Palestinians fear arrest or humiliation by troops at the checkpoints.

After Israel on Monday called for an evacuation from eastern and central parts of Gaza City, staff at two hospitals — Al-Ahli and the Patients Friends Association Hospital — rushed to move patients and shut down, the United Nations said.

Hospitals in Gaza have often evacuated preemptively at any sign of possible Israeli military action, fearing raids. In the past nine months, Israeli troops have attacked at least eight hospitals, causing the deaths of patients and medical workers along with massive destruction to facilities and equipment. Israel has claimed Hamas uses hospitals for military purposes, though it has provided only limited evidence.

Only 13 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are functioning, and those only partially, according to the United Nations’ humanitarian office.

Amid the ongoing violence, international mediators were making a new concerted effort to push through a proposed deal for a cease-fire and release of hostages.

Israel and Hamas had appeared to narrow the gaps in recent days, but obstacles remain, even after Hamas agreed to relent on its key demand that Israel commit to ending the war as part of any agreement.

Hamas still wants mediators to guarantee that negotiations conclude with a permanent cease-fire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted he will not sign any deal forcing Israel to stop its campaign in Gaza without eliminating Hamas. Hamas on Monday accused Netanyahu of “putting more obstacles in the way of negotiations,” including the operations in Gaza City.

An Egyptian official said the head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, Abbas Kamel, went to Doha to join discussions over the deal. The official said U.S. and Israeli officials were also attending. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the press on the meetings.

A day earlier, CIA Director William Burns, who has led the American mediation, met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo.

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press correspondent Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

For all your camel-riding needs: Middle Eastern Festival to take place in West St. Paul on July 13-14

posted in: Society | 0

The St. George Middle Eastern Festival, a cultural celebration with food, music and family activities that include camel rides, returns for its 14th year this month.

The festival, hosted by St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in West St. Paul, runs from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, July 13, and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, July 14.

Throughout the festival, a silent auction will be held, and Middle Eastern food and pastries will be served, including kebab wraps, hummus and the church’s traditional farani bread. A large kids’ tent is set to include inflatable slides, mini golf and other games.

John Khoury, a local Lebanese singer and bandleader, will headline the main stage Saturday and perform throughout the day Sunday. Arab folk music group Amwaaj, DJ Joey and the church’s traditional dabke dance group also will perform. Bakers will lead a baklava cooking demonstration Saturday afternoon.

A full schedule is at mideastfest.com.

Admission is free and visitors may park in front of the church at 1250 Oakdale Ave. in West St. Paul.

Related Articles

Entertainment |


What does anxiety look like? How Pixar created the ‘Inside Out 2’ villain

Entertainment |


What does ‘The Bear’ get wrong about its big Chicago Tribune restaurant review? From the real food critic

Entertainment |


‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ review: The heat is (back) on

Entertainment |


What’s the song of the summer? Options range from Sabrina Carpenter to Shaboozey, Sexyy Red and beyond

Entertainment |


Photos: Forest Lake toasts to 100 years of Independence Day celebrations

Belwin Conservancy announces $10M capital campaign to expand access

posted in: News | 0

It’s been more than 65 years since Charles and Lucy Winton Bell of Wayzata began acquiring land in Afton for what would eventually become a conservancy.

Charles Bell, the son of the founder of General Mills, and Lucy Winton Bell wanted to do something to help address the challenges of diminishing wild spaces, water pollution and the lack of outdoor education in the east metro area.

The couple established the Belwin Foundation – a combination of their names, Bell and Winton – and donated 225 acres of their land to it. They also signed an agreement with St. Paul Public Schools that would dedicate their land to outdoor science education for children.

More than a half million children have come to Belwin Conservancy for outdoor science education over the years, and more than 1,500 acres in the St. Croix Valley have been protected from development. The permanently protected land includes woodland, prairie, oak savanna, ponds, streams and wetlands.

On Wednesday, Belwin officials will launch a $10.2 million capital campaign to make one of the area’s most diverse nature preserves more accessible. Money raised through the capital campaign, dubbed “Inspiring through Nature,” will be used to improve educational facilities, open more land to the public and protect and restore critical habitat in the Valley Creek watershed, said Katie Bloome, Belwin’s executive director since 2018.

“We know people benefit from time spent in nature, but as the area around Belwin develops, wild spaces are being lost,” she said. “People need places where they can sustain that connection.”

New education center

Belwin officials have already raised $7.8 million toward the goal of the capital campaign – the first in the history of the organization, which was founded in 1970.

About $3.5 million of the Belwin Conservancy’s new $10.2 million capital campaign is being used to create the 5,000-square-foot Peter J. King Family Foundation Wetlands Center. The new center, which will open to students in the fall of 2025, will be able to accommodate an additional 5,000 students per year, including students from Stillwater Area Public Schools. It also will be the new home of Belwin’s adaptive outdoor education programs for students with special needs, operated for 48 years in partnership with St. Paul Public Schools. (Courtesy of Belwin Conservancy)

About $3.5 million of the campaign is being used to create a new 5,000-square-foot Peter J. King Family Foundation Wetlands Center, which will allow Belwin to accommodate an additional 5,000 students per year, including students from Stillwater Area Public Schools, Bloome said.

The new education center also will be home to Belwin’s adaptive outdoor education programs. Designed for SPPS students who have special needs, the building will feature support spaces like calm rooms, easy access to surrounding paved trails for children and adults with mobility devices, and geothermal heating and cooling, she said.

Students from St. Paul Public Schools have been visiting Belwin every year since 1971, said SPPS Interim Superintendent John Thein. “For many, it is their first time experiencing the beauty and vastness of nature,” he said. “We are thrilled that this space will become even more welcoming and inclusive for the next generation of SPPS students.”

Not done growing

David Hartwell, president of the Belwin Conservancy board, talks about his grandparents, Charles and Lucy Winton Bell, from atop the Druid Circle at the Belwin Conservancy in Afton while giving a tour in his 1960 Fiat Jolly on Tuesday July 9, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

David Hartwell, 67, of Minneapolis, is the president of the Belwin board. The grandson of Charles and Lucy Bell, Hartwell is serving his 50th year on the Belwin board.

“My grandparents bought 66 acres (for $33,000) in 1958, and they immediately started to worry about what their neighbors were going to do,” he said during a tour of the site on Tuesday in his family’s red 1960 Fiat 600 Jolly. “So they bought out additional property to keep it from being developed in the 1960s.”

“My grandmother finally said to my grandfather, ‘Figure out what you’re going to do with this because we don’t need this extra property,’” he said. “He started looking for programs that would use it. They talked to the Boy Scouts, they talked to lots of different groups.”

St. Paul Public Schools officials had hired someone to find a facility to do environmental education in the St. Croix Valley, and he connected with the Bells in July of 1970, Hartwell said. “Three months later, they signed an agreement,” he said. “That would never happen like that today. It would take years.”

Belwin isn’t done growing, according to Hartwell. The organization eventually would like to end up with 2,000 acres of protected land in the area.

“It’s really infill at this point,” Hartwell said. “It’s our border protection. It’s infill of stuff between things that we already own. … We have kind of gotten as far as we are going to get without buying developments and tearing down houses, which just isn’t practical.”

Fishers and mountain lions have recently been spotted on Belwin land, he said. “We’ve been very lucky to have the opportunity to preserve it at this point – for the health of animals, for human health, for mental health,” he said.

Hartwell said Charles Bell, who died in 2003 at the age of 95, loved coming back to the St. Croix River Valley from his home in Santa Barbara, Calif., and visiting the property.

“I’d always take him out here, and he would always say the same thing as we drove in: ‘I can’t believe we did this,’” he said. “He was amazed we got to where we were. I think he’d be even more amazed to see how big it’s gotten.”

Other plans

Signs direct visitors at the Belwin Conservancy in Afton on Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Related Articles

Environment |


After 100 years, Dakota County dam upgrade expected to double hydropower output

Environment |


Are solar panels a good investment? New study offers an answer

Environment |


Matt Poppleton tapped to be head of Wild Rivers Conservancy

Environment |


To save spotted owls, US officials plan to kill hundreds of thousands of another owl species

Environment |


Google falling short of important climate target, cites electricity needs of AI

In addition to the new Peter J. King Family Foundation Wetlands Center, Belwin officials plan to use money raised through the capital campaign to install clearer, more visible entrance signage and infrastructure across the conservancy’s multiple sites; the opening of Oxbow Trails, a new public hiking area on St. Croix Trail north of downtown Afton; habitat protection and restoration along Valley Creek; and renovations to the Savanna Center, a new program and artist-in-residence site located on a 300-acre oak savanna.

Lead campaign gifts include $2 million from the Bell/Hartwell Family, $1.3 million from the Peter J. King Family Foundation, $1 million from the Washington County Land and Water Legacy Program, $500,000 from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, $435,000 from the Smikis Foundation, $380,000 from the Outdoor Heritage Fund, and $250,000 from the Fred C. and Katherine B. Andersen Foundation.

“We want to be an asset for the community,” Hartwell said. “We have hiking trails that are open here for anyone who wants to use them. The local community often doesn’t have much in the way of that, but we’ve been able to help create that for the community.”