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Miami man charged after drug bust reveals organized retail theft ring; tenant at suspect’s home speaks out

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:35 GMT

A Miami man is facing serious charges one day after police officers serving a narcotics search warrant at his home uncovered what they described as an organized retail theft ring.Miami Police arrested 59-year-old Leonardo Ruiz on charges of cocaine trafficking, money laundering and possession of drug paraphernalia, among other offenses.City of Miami Police Chief Manny Morales spoke with reporters Wednesday evening.“We’re glad that he’s off the streets,” he said.Ruiz’s arrest followed the execution of the search warrant at his home in the area of Northwest 24th Avenue and 14th Street.The investigation revealed that Ruiz was not only involved in drug-related activities, but was also the ringleader in an organized retail theft ring. “He set up his own little store here,” Morales said. Morales said that hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of stolen property — including drills, impact windows and a large quantity of liquor —...

British boy missing for six years found in France

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:35 GMT

(CNN) — A British boy whose location has been unknown for six years was found on Wednesday morning in a region of southwest France, a spokesperson for regional authorities told CNN on Thursday.Alex Batty has not been seen since he was 11 years old, after being taken on holiday in Spain in 2017 with his mother, “who did not have legal parental guardianship,” and his grandad, according to a police appeal released in February 2019.Batty was found in Haute-Garonne, near the city of Toulouse, according to the spokesperson.CNN’s affiliate BFMTV reported that the family has confirmed the teenager’s identity and that he is due to return to England shortly, according to the Toulouse public prosecutor’s office.His grandmother, Susan Caruana, his legal guardian, told the UK’s The Sun newspaper that she had spoken to Alex.“I am so happy. I have spoken to him and he is well,” Caruana said, adding: “He is currently with the authorities in France. It is such a shock.”Greater Manchester Police...

Two men indicted for allegedly killing protected eagles and selling them on the black market

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:35 GMT

(CNN) — Two men in Montana have been indicted after allegedly killing around 3,600 birds – including bald and golden eagles – and selling them on the black market.Simon Paul and Travis John Branson were both indicted on December 7 on charges of conspiracy, unlawful trafficking of bald and golden eagles and violating the Lacey Act, according to the federal indictment filed in the US District Court in Montana.The Lacey Act, first enacted in 1900, combats trafficking of illegally taken wildlife, fish or plants, according to the US Department of Agriculture.CNN has been unable to determine if Paul and Branson have legal representation at this time.They are accused of conspiring to “illegally kill, transport, offer for sale, and sell bald and golden eagles” between January 2015 and March 2021 on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Western Montana.Branson traveled from Washington to Montana to shoot the birds, and Paul, who lived on the Flathead Indian Reservation, was described ...

WeightWatchers launches a new membership for Ozempic customers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:35 GMT

New York (CNN) — WeightWatchers is accelerating its pivot away from a diet culture brand and into a company catering to people taking Ozempic.WeightWatchers on Thursday launched a new membership plan for members taking GLP-1 prescriptions drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy sometimes used for weight loss. The “WeightWatchers GLP-1 Program” will give WeightWatchers members on semaglutide medications access to doctors who can prescribe these medications, as well as daily nutrition plans, insurance coordination, and other weight loss support programs.The company has started advertising the clinic on its website. The support program is included in the company’s $23 monthly membership. For additional access to clinicians who can prescribe weight loss medications, members will pay a $99 monthly fee – excluding the price of the medication. Customers can also receive a prescription from their primary care physician if they prefer.Semaglutide was approved by the US Food and Drug Adm...

Dodgers strike again, trade for Rays ace Tyler Glasnow

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:35 GMT

Hours after officially introducing Shohei Ohtani as the newest member of the organization, the Los Angeles Dodgers struck again.According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan and others, the Dodgers have reached an agreement to trade for Tampa Bay Rays ace Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Manuel Margot. The Rays will reportedly receive RHP Ryan Pepiot and OF Jonny Deluca, two of the Dodgers’ top prospects, and the deal is also contingent on Glasnow signing an extension with Los Angeles.Glasnow is coming off a strong bounce-back season in which he posted a 3.53 ERA with 162 strikeouts over a career-high 120 innings. The 30-year-old previously missed most of 2021 and nearly all of 2022 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but now the right-hander once again ranks among baseball’s best pitchers and should immediately slide into the front of Los Angeles’ rotation.The Rays were looking to move Glasnow because he is due $25 million for the last year of his contract. They’ll now...

Medford City Council: How about a 141% pay hike for School Committee members?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:35 GMT

Some Medford School Committee members say a proposal from the City Council to raise their annual salaries by more than double came as a surprise and that they don’t do the job for the money.Council President Nicole Morell, in the last month of her tenure, is seeking to increase School Committee member pay from $12,000 to more than $29,000, aligning the annual earnings with that of city councilors.“The ideal of equal pay for equal work is a long-established and accepted principle in our nation,” Morell’s resolution states. “This ordinance would establish pay parity for all members of duly elected legislative bodies in the city.”School Committee members, speaking during a council meeting Tuesday, however, said they were unaware their compensation was an issue and that it’s gotten the attention of councilors.“I wanted to kind of set something clear: The first time, as a School Committee member, that I heard about this raise was by reading it on the City Council agenda,” said Kathy Krea...

California regulators vote to extend Diablo Canyon nuclear plant operations through 2030

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:35 GMT

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (AP) — California energy regulators voted Thursday to allow the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant to operate for an additional five years, despite calls from environmental groups to shut it down.The California Public Utilities Commission agreed to extend the shutdown date for the state’s last functioning nuclear power facility through 2030 instead of closing it in 2025 as previously agreed.Separately, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission will consider whether to extend the plant’s operating licenses.The twin reactors, located midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, began operating in the mid-1980s. They supply up to 9% of the state’s electricity on any given day. The Public Utilities Commission’s decision marks the latest development in a long fight over the operation and safety of the plant, which sits on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean. In August, a state judge rejected a lawsuit filed by Friends of the Earth that sought to block Pacific Ga...

Toronto council approves renaming Yonge-Dundas Square, Dundas subway stations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:35 GMT

Toronto’s City Council has voted to rename Yonge-Dundas Square and Dundas subway stations.Council voted 17-4 in favour of the recommendation to rename Dundas Station and Dundas West Station. On the suggestion to rename Yonge-Dundas Square to Sankofa Square, councillors voted 19-2 in favour. Sankofa derives from Ghana and refers “to the act of reflecting on and reclaiming teachings from the past which enables us to move forward together” and, in simpler terms, “to go back and get it.”It’s expected that Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) will get involved with the TTC to rename Dundas Station “TMU Station.” In April 2022, the head of Ryerson University announced the post-secondary institution would be renamed Toronto Metropolitan University. Ryerson is widely seen as a key architect in the system that separated Indigenous children from their families. Related: Former Toronto mayors urge city staff to reconsider renaming Dun...

Conservationists, tribes say deal with Biden administration is a road map to breach Snake River dams

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:35 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — The U.S. government said Thursday it plans to spend more than $1 billion over the next decade to help recover depleted populations of salmon in the Pacific Northwest, and that it will help figure out how to offset the hydropower, transportation and other benefits provided by four controversial dams on the Snake River, should Congress ever agree to breach them.President Joe Biden’s administration stopped short of calling for the removal of the dams to save the fish, but Northwest tribes and conservationists who have long sought that called the agreement a road map for dismantling them. Filed in U.S. District Court in Oregon, it pauses long-running litigation over federal operation of the dams and represents the most significant step yet toward breaching them.“Today’s historic agreement marks a new direction for the Pacific Northwest,” senior White House adviser John Podesta said in a written statement. “Today, the Biden-Harris Administration and state...

Hypothetical situations or real-life medical tragedies? A judge weighs an Idaho abortion ban lawsuit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:35 GMT

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An attorney for Idaho asked a judge on Thursday to throw out a lawsuit seeking clarity about the medical exemptions to the state’s broad abortion bans, saying it was based on hypothetical situations rather than current facts. But an attorney for the four women and several physicians who sued says their claims aren’t hypothetical at all, but real-life tragedies happening in doctors’ offices and homes across the state. Similar lawsuits are playing out around the nation, with some of them, like Idaho’s, brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of doctors and pregnant people who were denied access to abortions while facing serious pregnancy complications. “The physicians go to work every day not knowing if they will be able to provide the necessary care to their patients,” Marc Hearron, an attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, told 4th District Judge Jason Scott.The women and doctors suing aren’t asking the cour...