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Court blocks Mississippi ban on voting after some crimes, but GOP official will appeal ruling

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi is violating the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment by permanently stripping voting rights from people convicted of some felonies, a federal appeals court panel ruled in a split decision Friday.Two judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ordered the Mississippi secretary of state to stop enforcing a provision in the state constitution that disenfranchises people convicted of specific crimes, including murder, forgery and bigamy.If the ruling stands, thousands of people could regain voting rights, possibly in time for the Nov. 7 general election for governor and other statewide offices.Mississippi Republican Attorney General Lynn Fitch expects to ask the full appeals court to reconsider the panel’s 2-1 ruling, her spokesperson, Debbee Hancock, said Friday.The 5th Circuit is one of the most conservative appeals courts in the U.S., and in 2022 it declined to overturn Mississippi’s felony disenfranchisement...

No college psychology credit for Florida high schoolers after clash over teaching about gender

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — The first time the College Board bumped up against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s efforts to inject conservative ideals into education standards, it ultimately revamped the Advanced Placement course for African American studies, watering down curriculum on slavery reparations and the Black Lives Matter movement — and a nationwide backlash ensued.Now, faced with altering its AP Psychology course to comply with Florida’s limits on teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity, the nonprofit College Board is pushing back. It advised the state’s school districts Thursday to not offer the college-level course to Florida’s high school students unless it can be taught in full.The announcement sent shock waves across the state as students in many school districts prepare to return to school in less than a week. “I am actually very upset,” said John Carlos Alvarez, who was hoping to take AP Psychology his senior year of high school in Coral Springs, Florida. “There we...

US judge blocks new Illinois law allowing state to penalize anti-abortion counseling centers

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — A federal judge has blocked a new Illinois law that allows the state to penalize anti-abortion counseling centers if they use deception to interfere with patients seeking the procedure.U.S. District Judge Iain Johnston said Thursday the new law “is painfully and blatantly a violation of the First Amendment.” The law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker last week bans anti-abortion counseling centers, often referred to as “crisis pregnancy centers,” from using “misinformation, deceptive practices, or misrepresentation” to interfere with access to abortion services or emergency contraception. Violators faced fines of up to $50,000.The bill was championed by Attorney General Kwame Raoul. The law allows the state Office of the Attorney General to investigate complaints against anti-abortion centers using questionable tactics and strengthens the attorney general’s authority to prosecute incidences of consumer fraud in such cases.Pritzker said he’s confident the law wi...

Federal appeals court upholds Connecticut law that eliminated religious vaccination exemption

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a 2021 Connecticut law that eliminated the state’s longstanding religious exemption from childhood immunization requirements for schools, colleges and day care facilities.The decision comes about a year and a half after a lower court judge dismissed the lawsuit challenging the contentious law, which drew protests at the state Capitol.“This decision is a full and resounding affirmation of the constitutionality and legality of Connecticut’s vaccine requirements. Vaccines save lives — this is a fact beyond dispute,” Democratic Attorney General William Tong said in a statement. “The legislature acted responsibly and well within its authority to protect the health of Connecticut families and stop the spread of preventable disease.”The plaintiffs, We the Patriots USA Inc. and others, had argued that Connecticut violated religious freedom protections by removing the exemption. The 2021 law, they said, demonstrates a hostility to religious beli...

Man arrested in fatal Greektown shooting of Shamar Powell-Flowers

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

A 34-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the shooting death of Shamar Powell-Flowers in Greektown last month. Police say there was a fight involving multiple people in the area of Danforth and Carlaw avenues around 3:30 a.m. on July 23 and someone fired a gun. Powell-Flowers was rushed to the hospital in life-threatening condition where he was later pronounced dead.The shooting occurred hours after an informal gathering was held a few blocks away marking five years since a man went on a shooting rampage along the bustling thoroughfare, killing two people and injuring 13 others.Mohamud Farah of Toronto was arrested on Friday and charged with second-degree murder.

Movie weapons supervisor waives preliminary hearing in fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The woman who was overseeing the use of weapons on the movie set where Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer agreed Friday to forgo a preliminary hearing that would have provided court testimony from dozens of people, including eyewitnesses to the shooting.Arizona-based armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, in a court filing, waived her right to a courtroom review of evidence on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western movie “Rust.” Gutierrez-Reed also waived her right to a review of charges by a grand jury.Defense attorney Jason Bowles has described Hutchins’ death on Oct. 21, 2021, as a tragic accident and says that Gutierrez-Reed committed no crime. Gutierrez-Reed has not entered a plea to charges of involuntary manslaughter and evidence-tampering. If convicted, she faces up to three years in prison. “Rust” safety coordinator and assistant director David Halls has pleaded no contest to a charg...

S&P/TSX composite index up more than 100 points, U.S. markets fall

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock market rose more than 100 points to close out the week, driven by utilities, energy and financial stocks, while U.S. markets edged lower.The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 115.30 points at 20,236.04.“You’re seeing a big move up in commodities,” said Mike Archibald, vice-president and portfolio manager with AGF Investments Inc. “Gold’s having a nice day, energy, which has been very topical late, is also having a pretty nice day and is kind of rallying, getting close to highs for 2023.”He said the uptick was tied to economic data released Friday morning by Statistics Canada, which reported a softening of Canada’s labour market as the unemployment rate rose for a third consecutive month.July saw the economy shed 6,400 jobs while the unemployment rate ticked up to 5.5 per cent. The federal agency said job losses last month were led by the construction industry, while the greatest job gains were made in health care and so...

New offshore wind power project proposed for New Jersey Shore, but this one’s far out to sea

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — A German wind energy developer and a New York utility are teaming up to build another offshore wind power project off the New Jersey coast.But this project would be more than twice as far out to sea as others that have drawn the ire of residents who don’t want to see windmills on the horizon.Essen, Germany-based RWE and New York-based National Grid applied Friday to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities for permission to build a wind farm in the waters off Long Beach Island. Their joint venture is called Community Offshore Wind, and it aims to generate enough electricity to power 500,000 homes.Unlike other projects that have drawn intense opposition from homeowners in part because they are close enough to the Atlantic City and Ocean City shorelines to be seen by beachgoers, this project would be built 37 miles (59 kilometers) offshore and would not be visible from the shore, said Doug Perkins, president and project director of Community Offshore W...

Man found guilty after dragging Island Lake police officer with car

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

ISLAND LAKE, Ill. -- A 30-year-old man was found guilty Wednesday of dragging an Island Lake police officer with his car last year, according to the Lake County State's Attorney's Office.In June 2022, an Island Lake Police Officer conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle Lanord Miles, 30, was driving.While conducting the traffic stop, Miles refused police officer’s orders and began to drive away, dragging the police officer with his vehicle for about half a mile before the police officer was able to release grip off the vehicle. The officer sustained scratches and significant bruising.  Glendale Heights village president accused of lying about assault Officers were able to arrest Miles and a search of the car was conducted where Island Lake Police found over 18 grams of cocaine.A jury found Miles guilty on Wednesday.Miles was convicted on one count of possession of a controlled substance, and two counts of aggravated battery to a peace officer. He could face a sentence of 4 to 15 yea...

Twitch streamer's NYC giveaway draws massive crowd, police: report

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

UNION SQUARE, Manhattan (WPIX) – A large crowd estimated to be in the thousands gathered at Union Square Plaza Friday, prompting a police response, video from the Citizen App shows.It appears the crowd was waiting for Youtuber and Twitch streamer Kai Cenat. On Thursday, he tweeted that he would be heading to Union Square Plaza at 4 p.m. for a giveaway. Man run over by beach rake in Coney Island: officials "Due to police activity, avoid the area surrounding Union Square Park and use alternate routes. Expect a police presence in the area and residual traffic delays," the NYPD tweeted.Several fights broke out as the crowd swelled, video of the scene showed.A witness told Nexstar's WPIX the crowd turned into a mosh pit, with people throwing chairs, garbage cans, umbrellas, basketballs, and fruit. "It was the uttermost chaos," the witness told WPIX. "We had to run for our lives due to a stampede ... it was really scary."WPIX reached out to UTA Cenat's talent representative for a statem...