Watch: Plume of black smoke over Parisian skyline after ‘major’ fire
A fire at a waste disposal centre caused smoke to rise above buildings in the French capital city.
Servicio Meteorológico de EEUU deja de traducir contenidos para hablantes de otros idiomas.
Por ISABELLA O’MALLEY
El Servicio Meteorológico Nacional de Estados Unidos dejó de traducir sus contenidos, un cambio que, según los expertos, podría provocar que las personas que no hablan inglés corran el riesgo de perderse advertencias sobre clima extremo que podrían salvarles la vida.
El servicio meteorológico ha “puesto en pausa” las traducciones debido a que expiró su contrato con la empresa de inteligencia artificial Lilt, dijo el portavoz de la agencia, Michael Musher, quien se negó a entrar en detalles.
Lilt comenzó a proporcionar traducciones a finales de 2023 en reemplazo de las traducciones manuales que, de acuerdo con el servicio, eran laboriosas e insostenibles. La compañía eventualmente puso a disposición contenidos en español, chino, vietnamita, francés y samoano. El contrato expiró en momentos en que el gobierno del presidente Donald Trump busca recortar los gastos en las agencias federales, incluidos recortes dentro de la Oficina Nacional de Administración Oceánica y Atmosférica de Estados Unidos (NOAA, por sus siglas en inglés), que han dado como resultado altas tasas de vacantes en las oficinas del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional de Estados Unidos (NWS, por sus iniciales en inglés).
La NOAA remitió todas las preguntas relacionadas con Lilt a un mensaje en su sitio web en el que se anuncia que el contrato llegó a su fin. Lilt no respondió a solicitudes de comentarios.
Casi 68 millones de personas en Estados Unidos hablan en casa un idioma distinto al inglés, incluidos 42 millones de hispanohablantes, según datos del censo de 2019.
No poder leer las alertas meteorológicas urgentes podría ser una cuestión de vida o muerte, dijo Joseph Trujillo Falcón, investigador de la Universidad de Illinois, campus Urbana-Champaign, quien ha trabajado con la NOAA en la investigación para la traducción de información meteorológica y climática al público, incluido el uso de inteligencia artificial.
Dijo que la traducción de alertas meteorológicas salvó vidas durante una serie de tornados en Kentucky en 2021. Una familia hispanohablante señaló que en un principio recibieron una alerta de tornado en inglés en su celular, la cual ignoraron porque no la entendieron. Cuando llegó esa misma alerta en español buscaron refugio de inmediato.
“Les salvó la vida”, afirmó Trujillo Falcón.
Trujillo Falcón señaló que anteriormente las alertas meteorológicas solían ser traducidas por meteorólogos que hablaban más de un idioma, una tarea que podría ser “completamente abrumadora” que se sumaba a su trabajo como meteorólogos.
Las traducciones son importantes para más que eventos climáticos extremos, dijo Andrew Kruczkiewicz, investigador en la facultad de Meteorología de la Universidad de Columbia. Los pronósticos meteorológicos generales son esenciales para varios sectores, incluidos el turismo, el transporte y la energía. Las familias y las empresas pueden tomar decisiones más informadas cuando pueden obtener información meteorológica que a menudo incluye acciones que deben tomarse según el pronóstico.
Norma Mendoza-Denton, profesora de antropología en la Universidad de California, campus Los Ángeles, dijo que hay muchas personas en Estados Unidos que van por la vida con un inglés limitado. Por ejemplo, un comerciante podría ser capaz de tener una pequeña charla con sus clientes, pero podría no tener la misma comprensión cuando se trata de leer términos meteorológicos o climáticos.
“Si no tienen acceso a esa información del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional en los diferentes idiomas, eso podría ser la diferencia entre la vida y la muerte para alguien”, puntualizó Mendoza-Denton.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
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La cobertura climática y ambiental de Associated Press recibe apoyo financiero de múltiples fundaciones privadas. AP es la única responsable de todo el contenido.
Man critically wounded in River North police shooting: authorities
Police shot and critically injured a man in River North Monday afternoon, according to authorities. Two officers were also taken to the hospital but were not injured, sources said.
The shooting occurred around 2:30 p.m. on the 0-100 block of East Hubbard St., according to the Chicago Fire Department. Details of what led to the shooting weren’t immediately available.
By 2:50 p.m., police were asking for help clearing pedestrians from the sidewalks around a Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, located at 30 E. Hubbard St., and making a path for three ambulances.
The man and the two officers were all taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, a source said.
By 3:30 p.m., traffic was shut down for two blocks to the north and south of the hotel, forcing CTA to reroute its State Street buses in both directions, and officers were advising hotel patrons that they should be prepared to wait to get back into the hotel. Detectives, tactical officers and other CPD personnel clustered on the sidewalk out front of the hotel, while others walked the service alley in the back of the building.
Tim Fakhoury, who said he was the property manager for two buildings adjacent to the back of the hotel, said officers told him the man had been in a 7-Eleven store at the intersection of North State and East Illinois Streets and “went through the back.” Cashiers at the 7-Eleven declined to comment.
The Chicago Office of Police Accountability is investigating the shooting.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Protect Our Care targeting swing districts with ads opposing Medicaid cuts
The Democrat-aligned group Protect Our Care is launching a new spate of ads targeting GOP-controlled swing districts across the country to highlight constituent opposition to Medicaid funding cuts likely to result from Republicans’ aims to reduce the deficit by $880 billion.
In a release provided exclusively to The Hill, Protect Our Care announced 10 new ads that will launch in districts represented by Republican congress members including Reps. David Schweikert (Ariz.), David Valadao (Calif.), Young Kim (Calif.), Ken Calvert (Calif.) and Nick LaLota (N.Y.) among others.
The 30-second ads feature footage of angry constituents at town halls expressing opposition to Medicaid cuts. They also show Steve Bannon, an ally of President Trump, saying in February, “Medicaid you’ve got to be careful, cause a lot of MAGA’s on Medicaid. I’m telling you. If you don’t think so, you’re dead wrong.”
The ads are a part of Protect Our Care’s $10 million “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign launched earlier this year.
Republicans aim to cut $2 trillion in federal spending over the next decade, and according to the Congressional Budget Office, this can’t be achieved without cutting into Medicaid funding. The House committee overseeing Medicaid has been tasked with finding $880 billion to cut from the programs under its jurisdiction.
“Trump and Congressional Republicans are on a crusade to slash Medicaid to fund tax breaks for the wealthy,” Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse said in a statement.
“These ads expose Republicans for turning their backs on their constituents and prioritizing tax breaks for billionaires and big companies over the health and financial wellbeing of everyday Americans,” said Woodhouse.
“Republicans’ budget proposal jeopardizes the health care of millions of children, seniors in nursing homes, people with disabilities, cancer patients, veterans, and the list goes on. Americans across the country, including Democratic and Republican voters alike, are counting on Republicans to do the right thing and protect our health care.”
According to the findings of the KFF Health Tracking Poll released last month, two-thirds of Trump voters say they want Congress to increase Medicaid spending or keep it same, while a third said they wanted it to be decreased.
Lake Bluff and Lake Forest election lacks drama but bring some new perspective
There wasn’t much drama in the latest local municipal elections, but many of the various boards will soon have some new perspective.
Lake Forest and Lake Bluff residents went to the polls on April 1, selecting candidates for several offices including local governing bodies and the public school boards. While turnout was low in the mostly uncontested elections, voters now have their representation in place.
A rare challenged election occurred at Lake Bluff District 65, where voters had to select from five candidates vying for four seats.
It was a good night for the three incumbents, Carrie Steinbach, Lauren Hirsh and Tim Penich were all re-elected to new four-year terms, according to the Lake County Clerk’s website.
The new member of the elementary school board will be Andrew Carlson, the principal of the Regional Lake County Safe School. He received 480 votes with Kimberly Bourne Saccaro falling short with 417.
In a separate part of the ballot, incumbent Richard Driver received 705 votes to fill out the last two years of a term. Driver was appointed to the board, filling a vacancy created upon the resignation of a previous member early in the term. Under Illinois law, a special election was held to fill out the last two years. Driver was the only declared candidate.
Also in Lake Bluff, Village President Regis Charlot received 707 votes in his uncontested race for a second four-year term. He will preside over a village board where voters gave incumbents Taryn Fisher and Susan Rider new four-year stints. A new member of the board will be Village Clerk Raffi Elchemmas, who will replace Mary Cole, as she did not seek re-election after her unsuccessful bid for Lake County State’s Attorney last November.
Elsewhere, there will be four new Lake Bluff Park District commissioners with the election of Carrie Welles, Andrew Henkel, McCamie Cole, and Ben Grum. They will replace incumbents Niki Walsh, Scott Weber, Susan Raymoure and Ann Rieder. Those four did not seek re-election.
At the Lake Bluff Public Library Board, President Bonnie Shaul was re-elected to a new term. Courtney Heck, who was listed on the ballot, will join her on the governing body along with Kathleen Reidy, a write-in candidate.
Shaul said a vacancy remains, and the rest of the board is seeking applications to appoint a resident. The changes occur as incumbents William Hayes, Matt Zaute and Jenny Graziano did not ask voters for another term on the library board.
In Lake Forest, the Lake Forest Caucus-endorsed slate all ran in uncontested elections.
The candidate group included Mayor Stanford “Randy” Tack, who was elected for a second two-year term, receiving 1,305 votes. He will see many familiar faces on the City Council as incumbents Peter Clemens (1st), John Powers (2nd), and Richard Walther (4th) will be returning upon receiving new two-year terms from the voters.
One new member of the City Council will be Nick Bothfeld, set to represent the third ward. Bothfeld will succeed Ara Goshgarian, who is stepping down after serving the traditional three two-year terms.
At Lake Forest District 67, four candidates were running for four seats on the elementary school board. Incumbent Gregory Adamo will return with residents Lori Ann Fitzgerald, Timo Berger and Jerry Lavin elected to join the board. They will replace incumbents Emily Bernahl, Carl Kirar and Shyama Parikh Chauhan who did not seek for new terms.
There will also be some new voices of the School District 115 board, which oversees Lake Forest High School.
Incumbent Annie Geraghty Helms, a Lake Forest resident, was elected to a four-year term after being appointed to the board last year to fill a vacancy.
New members on the seven-member high school board will include Lake Forest’s Robert Silvay and Lake Bluff’s Gail Gamrath and Amy Donohue.
Traditionally, the seven-member board is composed five Lake Forest residents and two people from the Lake Bluff area.
District 115 incumbents David Burns, Sally Davis and John Venson did not run for re-election.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.