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Disney park revenue slumps in Orlando but grows globally

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:08 GMT

Revenue is up for Walt Disney Co.’s theme parks globally, but down at Walt Disney World, according to third-quarter financial results released by the company Wednesday.CEO Robert Iger pointed to a flattening of attendance after the end of Disney World’s 50th anniversary celebration and other contributors for the dip.“Also, as post-COVID pent-up demand continues to level off in Florida, local tax data shows evidence of some softening in several major Florida tourism markets, and the strong dollar is expected to continue tamping down international visitation to the state,” Iger said.The company has been at odds with Gov. Ron DeSantis over the so-called “don’t say gay” law, which bans instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools.Revenue was up 13% for Disney Parks, Experience and Products for the quarter ending July 1, compared with the year-earlier period. That segment includes the Disney theme parks in Asia, which saw a 94% increase in revenue.“Both Shan...

‘Free Kevin Brown’: Like the broadcaster, Orioles fans just want to talk about how good their team is now

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:08 GMT

Kevin Tehansky and his siblings walked into Camden Yards on Tuesday night wearing matching orange and white shirts and a sign in support of Orioles slugger Anthony Santander. Inspired by the popular Bird Bath section in left field, they created a sign counting Santander’s home runs. During the second inning, however, they had another idea.“We got here and we’re like, you know what, we have two sides to this thing. Let’s use the other side for a cause,” said Tehansky, who is from Carroll County.Equipped with a Sharpie (which they brought to mark on their sign, should Santander have homered), they flipped the white sign over and wrote in black marker: Free Kevin Brown.Between innings, they held it up. And in the seventh inning, they were among the announced crowd of 24,761 who chanted “Free Kevin Brown!” loud enough to be heard on the broadcast.Those three words became an overnight slogan in support of Orioles broadcaster Kevin Brown, who was ...

Stabbing at the Mass and Cass Roundhouse, victim suffered life-threatening injuries

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:08 GMT

A person was stabbed at the Roundhouse, the former Best Western hotel in the heart of the Mass and Cass area used as transitional housing for residents of the needle-strewn zone.Boston Police responded to the building located at 891 Massachusetts Avenue in Roxbury at around 9 p.m. Tuesday. They located the victim in the building’s basement suffering from multiple stab wounds, according to a police incident report.The unidentified victim was transported to Boston Medical Center to be treated for life-threatening injuries.No suspect was indicated on the police report.The stabbing was the 41st stabbing this year in the area known as Mass and Cass, which is an area immediately surrounding the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard in Boston, according to BPD statistics through Tuesday.That places the high-crime area known for open-air drug dealing and use and human trafficking the setting for more than 9% of the total 442 aggravated assault with a knife reports r...

Boston City Council backs tax breaks for businesses hurt by Mass and Cass mess

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:08 GMT

City Councilor Erin Murphy’s double-barreled approach to tackling the “public health crisis” at Boston’s Mass and Cass was praised for giving businesses there a break, but knocked for assertions that street cleaning equipment was spreading diseases.Murphy’s proposal came in the form of two hearing orders, both of which were discussed at a Wednesday City Council meeting.One hearing would look into providing a property tax abatement to Newmarket-area businesses adversely affected by the open-air drug dealing and violence occurring around Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue.“We know they’re struggling through none of their own doing, and we’ve failed them in not providing a safe environment,” Murphy said. “Many have been adversely impacted by the deteriorating conditions of the neighborhood that aren’t accurately reflected in their property tax valuation.”Sixty-five business owners from the 200-member Newmarket Business Association have collectively spent $3.9 mi...

'It felt like we were in hell': Men jump in ocean to escape Maui fire

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:08 GMT

HONOLULU (KHON) -- With fires raging on Maui, two men felt there was nowhere to escape the flames – except for the ocean. The two men live in Lahaina, a historic part of Maui loved by tourists, which appears to be heavily damaged by this week's raging fire. They described a terrifying scene as they evacuated from Prison Street, right in the heart of Lahaina."I saw a couple people just running, I heard screams out of hell ... explosions. It felt like we were in hell, it really was. It was just indescribable," one of the men told Nexstar's KHON. They didn't give their names in the on-camera interview. PHOTOS: Intensifying fires wreak havoc on Maui "You couldn't really see anything, sometimes it was just blacked out by the smoke, but you could still see the flames," said the other man. They said they were sheltering by a home near the wharf Tuesday evening, but winds were blowing heat from the fire toward them, and it began burning their skin. After about 30 minutes, they said the h...

Blocks of a historic Maui town have been destroyed by Hawaii wildfire. Follow along for live updates

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:08 GMT

Follow along for live updates of wildfires that are racing across part of Maui in Hawaii, destroying sections of a historic town on the island and forcing some to flee to the relative safety of the ocean, where the Coast Guard rescued them. The fires forced evacuations in some areas, including the popular tourist spot of Lahaina Town. The National Weather Service says Hurricane Dora, which is passing south of the island chain at a safe distance, was partly to blame for strong winds driving the flames, knocking out power and grounding firefighting helicopters. WIND-WHIPPED WILDFIRE WREAKED DEVASTATION THROUGHOUT HISTORIC LAHAINAThe wildfires ripping through Maui left a swath of devastation for blocks in the historic town of Lahaina, videos and photos of the tourist destination show. Historic buildings along Lahaina’s popular Front Street were charred and flattened skeletons on Wednesday, powerlines were draped across roadways and abandoned cars were blackened husks. Richard Ols...

B.C. firefighters honour fallen colleague Zak Muise at memorial and on frontline

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:08 GMT

PENTICTON, B.C. — Firefighters on British Columbia’s northern wildfire frontline wore black bandanas Wednesday while others carrying helmets and axes marched in Penticton during a memorial procession to honour colleague Zak Muise.Muise, 25, died late last month fighting the massive Donnie Creek wildfire in B.C.’s northeast.First responders, including municipal and forest firefighters, police, paramedics and others formed a procession at the Okanagan city’s Skaha Lake Park, followed by an outdoor public memorial for Muise, who grew up in Ontario and was the youngest of six siblings.Andrew Bird, training officer at the Penticton Fire Department, took part in the honour guard.Bird said Muise’s parents marched in the procession and were presented with a folded Canadian flag.“We’re all here looking out for each other. It was an honour to be there for him and Zak’s family,” Bird said.Bird said firefighters from California, Washington state a...

Disney to hike streaming prices and crack down on password sharing amid pressure on earnings

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:08 GMT

Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger vowed to make its streaming services profitable via a planned October price hike on its ad-free Disney+ and Hulu plans and a crackdown on password sharing expected to extend through next year.The increases, expected to take effect later this year, will raise the monthly cost of ad-free Disney+ by $3, or roughly 27%, to almost $14. The cost of ad-free Hulu will likewise rise $3 to almost $18 — a 20% hike that will make it more expensive than the most popular ad-free tier at Netflix.Iger spoke following Disney’s release of mixed earnings for its fiscal third quarter ended July 1. The company reported a substantial net loss while shedding customers in both domestic and international markets. Overall, Disney reported a 4% increase in revenue for the quarter but swung to a net loss of $460 million from a year-earlier profit of $1.4 billion. Disney shares, which closed at $87.49, rose roughly 2.5% to around $90 in after-hours trading.While Disney reporte...

What’s driving Maui’s devastating fires, and how climate change is fueling those conditions

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:08 GMT

A dangerous mix of conditions appear to have combined to make the wildfires blazing a path of destruction in Hawaii particularly damaging, including high winds, low humidity and dry vegetation. Experts also say climate change is increasing the likelihood of more extreme weather events like what’s playing out on the island of Maui, where at least six people have been killed and a historic tourist town was devastated. “It’s leading to these unpredictable or unforeseen combinations that we’re seeing right now and that are fueling this extreme fire weather,” said Kelsey Copes-Gerbitz, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia’s faculty of forestry. “What these … catastrophic wildfire disasters are revealing is that nowhere is immune to the issue.”Here’s a look at the Maui fires, and what’s behind them:WHAT’S FUELING THEM?Major differences in air pressure drove unusually strong trade winds that fanned the destructive f...

Toronto doc director Daniel Roher remembers Robbie Robertson as risk-taker and artist

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:08 GMT

TORONTO — An Oscar-winning Toronto director who credits Robbie Robertson with helping to launch his career remembered the legendary singer-songwriter as a risk-taker and musical talent who “created a bridge across time.”Daniel Roher says he felt a great loss upon learning the gravelly voiced rocker died Wednesday in Los Angeles. Robertson was 80.Before he won an Oscar in March for “Navalny,” a portrait of Vladimir Putin critic Alexei Navalny, Roher wrote and directed “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson And The Band.”The documentary, which opened the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019, traces the formation of one of the most enduring groups in popular music, including interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Martin Scorsese and Peter Gabriel.Roher says he was an unknown filmmaker when Robertson gave him his big shot, mirroring the way rockabilly star Ronnie Hawkins gave Robertson his big shot at age 16 and unleashed a musical talent whose blended influences w...