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Xylazine, a sometimes deadly animal tranquilizer, detected in Texas supply

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) –  The Texas Department of State and Health Services (DSHS) said that xylazine, an animal tranquilizer increasingly showing up Nationally in illicit drug supplies, has been found in Texas. Texas law enforcement discovered a batch of illicit fentanyl in West Texas and detected xylazine in the supply. DSHS said that xylazine, commonly referred to as “tranq,” was combined with other benzodiazepines and has led to four reported xylazine-related deaths. DSHS said this is the first incident of illicit drug supplies testing positive for the tranquilizer in the state. “We started hearing some rumblings of this late last year, and you started seeing some of those stories nationally as well,” said Chris Van Deusen, Director of Media Relations for DSHS. “[DSHS] wanted to let the public know, [and] healthcare providers know, that this was out there – in case they encounter someone coming into the ER, or some other kind of healthcare setting, [who] may be experi...

How many light rail riders does Project Connect anticipate under each new option?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — After unveiling five new options on the table for the future of light rail transit in Austin, Project Connect leaders have released new projections for anticipated ridership under each version.Austin Transit Partnership — the entity created to oversee the construction of the Project Connect light rail system — displayed the newest designs during an in-person and virtual open house Tuesday evening. ICYMI: Project Connect debuts 5 scaled down light rail options The transit agency is expected to announce the final version by June, ATP Executive Director Greg Canally told KXAN, as part of an initial investment phase.In the meantime, Tuesday's open house documents broke down, by option, the length of the proposed route. ATP officials also provided estimates on the number of daily riders for each model.38th Street to Oltorf Street to Yellow Jacket LaneAustin Transit Partnership has unveiled five options for Project Connect's light rail system. (Courtesy: Austin Transit ...

This five-cheese mac & cheese (with bacon!) will make dinner grate again

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

Amy Drew Thompson | Orlando Sentinel“This is the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had,” The Beau joked.I say “joked” because he was eating tteokbokki. So for the record, right now, Doshi, a Korean restaurant — and its molten cheese-smothered rice cakes — is his pick for the best “mac and cheese” in Orlando. And mine, too.Outside my kitchen, that is.Best mac and cheese recipe I’ve ever made. Even stays creamy on the reheat. That’s winning! (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)I’m not going to brag about this recipe at all. It’s not mine. But the cheesy tteokbokki incident (which I’ll discuss further in a future piece about Doshi) got me thinking about the preponderance of subpar mac and cheese out there — so much that it is a common topic of discussion in my circle — and it inspired me to dig out a recipe I hadn’t made in forever.Because mac and cheese is not a diet food. Especially this one. And I eat enough already.I discovered this recipe the same way I imagine many at-hom...

An inside look at the incredible Matt Boldy goal that lifted Wild into first place

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — Matt Boldy probably could have gone for a line change a couple of times during overtime Tuesday night at Prudential Center. If he did, however, The winger would not have scored the incredible goal that lifted the Wild to a 2-1 overtime win over the New Jersey Devils, and into a first place tie with Dallas in the NHL’s Central Division.“It’s weird how it works like that,” Boldy said with a smile. “I was able to get down there and get a chance.”After hopping the boards with 1 minute, 12 seconds left, Boldy twice made the decision not to go back to the bench.As a result, he grew visibly more exhausted as his marathon shift progressed, looking so dead on a particular backcheck that teammates Mason Shaw, Brandon Duhaime and Connor Dewar started chirping him, joking that it looked like he was skating with a piano on his back.“I’m glad the bench wasn’t mic’d up,” Shaw said with a laugh before giving credit whe...

DEA warns horse tranquilizer xylazine is making fentanyl overdose crisis worse

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

Joseph Wilkinson | (TNS) New York Daily NewsThe drug xylazine, which has been linked to an increase in overdoses, has now been seized in 48 of 50 states, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced Monday in an alert.Xylazine, also known as tranq, is often cut with fentanyl. Xylazine is legal as a horse tranquilizer, but it’s not approved for human use.“Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier,” DEA boss Anne Milgram said in the alert. “The DEA Laboratory System is reporting that in 2022 approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine.”Fentanyl is cut with xylazine to extend the high that users feel. The average fentanyl high is relatively short, but the sedative effects of xylazine can make it last longer.However, xylazine itself is not an opioid, meaning that overdose-reversal drug naloxone, better known by the brand name Narcan, does not work on it.Because xylazine is ofte...

Gophers point guard Katie Borowicz retiring from basketball

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

Katie Borowicz, the Roseau point guard who left high school early to join the Gophers basketball team only to miss her second season after surgery to relieve pressure in her brain, is retiring from basketball.A 5-foot-7 sophomore whose ball-handling skills made her an uncommon threat when driving to the rim, made the announcement on her Twitter account Wednesday morning. She called the decision “the most difficult and painful one I’ve ever had to make.”As a redshirt freshman this season, Borowicz averaged 8.5 points and 3.0 assists a game and shot 37 percent from 3-point range for the Gophers (11-19, 4-14). She missed all of last season after surgery to repair an injury to the back of her skull that was putting pressure on her spine, ultimately causing nerve damage that resulted in tingling, numbness and weakness in her legs.“When I play,” she wrote Wednesday, “it only gets worse and I’ve come to associate basketball with pain. I have been struggling for the past year to push throug...

PB considers joining immigration worker initiative under Taber

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

By Erika MathieuSunny South NewsThe Town of Taber has extended an offer to the Town of Picture Butte to join the The Rural Renewal Stream immigration initiative.The rural renewal stream is part of the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program to support attracting and retaining newcomers to rural parts of Alberta. The program supports rural communities in their efforts to recruit and retain foreign nationals to the area.The program is administered by the designated municipality, the Town of Taber, which has recently on-boarded Coaldale and the Town of Picture Butte to join the program on a trial basis to determine whether or not the program would be worth implementing on their own in the future.The program facilitates retention through an expedited permanent residency process. Picture Butte’s CAO Keith David explained, “this means that you can become a designated community that businesses that have immigrant workers or are looking for immigrant workers can apply to the designated munici...

Agriculture in the spotlight at Lethbridge College

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

By Al BeeberSouthern Alberta NewspapersLethbridge College agriculture programs were in the spotlight earlier this month, led by members of its student-run Aggie Club.Agriculture students began sharing their passion for the industry with activities to engage and inform others on campus about the science of agriculture.The events were an opportunity for students to learn about agriculture lessons via online lessons delivered to them by email. Students could learn about careers, summer jobs and the role played by agriculture in southern Alberta.The event was spearheaded Aggie Club president Emma Knodel whose family has farmed just north of Coaldale for more than a century.“This day is really important in that it showcases our industry and hopefully helps to dispel some myths about the agricultural sector,” said Knodel.She and her vice president started the day last year after COVID and the event has become “a really big, important event to the college,” said Knodel.“I’m really passiona...

Coaldale Christian takes home 1A boys provincial championship

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

By Garrett SimmonsFor Sunny South NewsThe 1A Boys Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association Provincial Championships gold medal game was never in doubt.Coaldale Christian led from start to finish, as the host team rolled to a 111-61 win over Clear Water Academy.The route was on early, as Coaldale Christian raced out to an insurmountable 33-4 lead after only one quarter of play, thanks to a 13-point opening quarter from Noah VanderHeide, who finished with 30 points in the contest.VanderHeide’s big first quarter was matched by Micah Visser’s 31-point effort, as Coaldale Christian’s offence overwhelmed Clear Water from the opening tip, all the way to the final buzzer. Asher Slomp added 25 points for Coaldale, as the three-headed monster of Slomp, VanderHeide and Visser were too much for the silver medalists, who were led by Joshua Njongwe, who scored a game-high 36.No. 1 ranked Coaldale Christian earned a first-round bye in the tournament, and kicked off play Friday with a big 109-43 win o...

Phillips gets five years in fatal Coalhurst collision case

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

By Delon ShurtzSouthern Alberta NewspapersA southern Alberta man who slammed into a vehicle more than three years ago, killing the elderly driver, has been sentenced to five years in a federal penitentiary.Wesley Brian Phillips was sentenced last week in Lethbridge Court of King’s Bench, where he pleaded guilty to one count of failing to provide a breath sample following an accident causing death.Phillips was driving his Volkswagen Jetta west on Highway 3 shortly after 7 p.m. on Nov. 25, 2019 when he smashed into a Ford Escape that was stopped at a stop sign and waiting to enter the highway from Coalhurst.The driver of the Escape, 66-year-old Elizabeth Ment, was the only occupant of the vehicle and died in the collision.“Mr. Phillips travelled from the through-lanes into the turn lane that turns into Coalhurst, and continued straight, striking a concrete curb island,” reads an agreed statement of facts submitted to the court.“The curb provided a slight vaulting action to the Volkswa...