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California governor chooses labor leader and Democratic insider to fill Feinstein’s Senate seat

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:11 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — When California Gov. Gavin Newsom needed to fill the U.S. Senate seat of his late mentor Dianne Feinstein, he could have turned to a big-city mayor, a member of Congress or a powerful legislator.Instead, he chose Laphonza Butler, a former union leader and Democratic insider who heads a national organization that raises money for women candidates who support abortion rights. She offered a familiar face who shares his vision for a progressive California. In choosing Butler, he also elevated someone who could become an important ally for a potential national campaign that many see in his future.Once she is sworn in, Butler will be the only Black woman in the Senate and the first openly LGBTQ+ California senator. That, alongside her background in the labor and women’s rights movements, helps harden Newsom’s ties to important national Democratic constituencies.Speaking to reporters Monday in San Francisco, Newsom praised Butler’s “deep knowledge” of the leg...

Elon Musk facing defamation lawsuit in Texas over posts that falsely identified man in protest

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:11 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A California man who says he was harassed after Elon Musk amplified posts on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that falsely placed the man at a confrontation involving far-right protesters sued the billionaire for defamation in a lawsuit filed Monday. Benjamin Brody, 22, is represented by Mark Bankston, a Texas attorney who won a defamation case last year against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in a lawsuit brought by families of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. Brody is seeking a jury trial in Austin, Texas, and unspecified damages of at least $1 million. Attorneys for Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment left through a spokesperson. In June, video posted to X showed a confrontation involving protesters near a Pride festival in Oregon. Some of those involved wore the same colors of the Proud Boys extremist group, according to The Oregonian. On X, some users falsely identified one of the participants as Brody, highligh...

Government sues Union Pacific over using flawed test to disqualify color blind railroad workers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:11 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The federal government has joined more than a dozen former workers in suing Union Pacific over the way it used a vision test to disqualify workers the railroad believed were color blind and might have trouble reading signals telling them to stop a train.The lawsuit announced Monday by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of 21 former workers is the first the government filed in what could eventually be hundreds — if not thousands — of lawsuits over the way Union Pacific disqualified people with a variety of health issues.These cases were once going to be part of a class-action lawsuit that the railroad estimated might include as many as 7,700 people who had to undergo what is called a “fitness-for-duty” review between 2014 and 2018. Lawyers for the plaintiffs estimate nearly 2,000 of those people faced restrictions that kept them off the job for at least two years if not indefinitely. But the railroad hasn’t significantly changed its policie...

5 died of exposure to chemical in central Illinois crash, preliminary autopsies find

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:11 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Five people died from exposure to a chemical that spilled after a semitruck overturned in central Illinois, according to autopsies conducted Monday. Effingham County Coroner Kim Rhodes said official results from the autopsies won’t be available for several weeks. The victims of the multi-vehicle crash in Teutopolis, about 110 miles (177 kilometers) northeast of St. Louis, were Teutopolis resident Kenneth Bryan, 34, and his children, Walker Bryan, 10 and Rosie Bryan, 7; Danny J. Smith, 67 of New Haven, Missouri; and Vasile Cricovan, 31, of Twinsburg, Ohio, were killed.The tanker traveling on U.S. 40 Saturday night veered to the right to avoid a collision when another vehicle tried to pass it. It toppled and hit the trailer hitch of a vehicle parked just off the road. The tanker jackknifed and was left with a 6-inch (15-centimeter) hole in the chemical container, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The crash spilled more than half of t...

A man suspected of fatally shooting 3 people is shot and killed by police in Philadelphia

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:11 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia police officers on Monday shot and killed a man suspected in a quadruple shooting hours earlier that left three people dead, authorities said.Shortly before 5 a.m., officers were called to a home in the Lawncrest section of northeast Philadelphia. They found a 43-year-old woman in the rear of the property who had been shot in the eye, a police statement said. She was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in critical but stable condition.Three other people were found dead inside the home with gunshot wounds to the head. They were later identified as 63-year-old Denise Snead-Doram, 61-year-old Gregory Doram and 42-year-old Nina O’Brien.Three hours later, in the East Mount Airy section of northwest Philadelphia, officers tried to pull over a vehicle that had been reported fleeing the shooting location, according to the police department’s interim commissioner, John Stanford. A man inside, said to be a relative of the victims, was believed ...

Army officer pepper-sprayed during traffic stop asks for a new trial in his lawsuit against police

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:11 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A U.S. Army lieutenant who was struck, pepper-sprayed and handcuffed during a traffic stop in Virginia asked a federal appeals court on Monday to overturn rulings by a trial judge after jurors found mostly in favor of the two police officers he sued.Video of the December 2020 encounter between Lt. Caron Nazario and Windsor police officers was viewed millions of times and highlighted Black drivers’ fears of police mistreatment.In a legal brief filed Monday, Nazario argues that the court erred when it found in a pretrial ruling that Officers Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker had probable cause to believe Nazario committed the crimes of eluding police, obstruction of justice and failure to obey an order.Nazario also contends that the court erred when it dismissed his claims of unreasonable seizure, excessive force and First Amendment retaliation. He also claims the court gave two erroneous jury instructions and is asking for a new trial. He filed his appeal wi...

Ronaldo gets 1st Asian Champions League goal. Saudi team refuses to play in Iran over statue dispute

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:11 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal in the Asian Champions League in a 3-1 win for Al-Nassr over Istiklol on Monday to put some of the spotlight back on soccer after an earlier match between host Sepahan of Iran and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad was controversially canceled.The Saudi team did not take to the field at Naghsh-e-Jahan Stadium in Isfahan because of busts of Gen. Qassem Soleimani — who commanded Iran’s elite Quds Force before he was killed in a U.S. drone strike in neighboring Iraq in January 2020 — and other political banners, Saudi Arabia’s Al Ekhbariya TV reported.Three busts of Soleimani had been placed for the teams to walk past on their way out of the tunnel. After around a 30- minute delay, the Saudi Arabian champion, whose stars include N’Golo Kante and Fabinho, left the stadium where an estimated 60,000 fans were waiting.The Asian Football Confederation said in a statement that the Group C match was canceled “due to unanticipat...

Lundin Mining says CEO to step down, names Jack Lundin as successor

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:11 GMT

VANCOUVER — Lundin Mining Corp. says chief executive Peter Rockandel is stepping down at the end of the year.The Vancouver-based miner says Jack Lundin, current president and former director, will step in to take his place and also rejoin the board as of Jan. 1, 2024.Board chair Adam Lundin thanked Rockandel for his time at the company, including two years as CEO.Jack Lundin has worked at several Lundin Group companies, including as CEO of Bluestone Resource Inc. and project superintendent at Lundin Gold Inc. His late father, Lukas H. Lundin, co-founded Lundin Mining.  Lundin Mining is a diversified base metals miner with operations in the Americas and Europe. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:LUN)The Canadian Press

The Pentagon warns Congress it is running low on money to replace weapons sent to Ukraine

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:11 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is warning Congress that it is running low on money to replace weapons the U.S. has sent to Ukraine and has already been forced to slow down resupplying some troops, according to a letter sent to congressional leaders.The letter, obtained by The Associated Press, urges Congress to replenish funding for Ukraine. Congress averted a government shutdown by passing a short-term funding bill over the weekend, but the measure dropped all assistance for Ukraine in the battle against Russia.Pentagon Comptroller Michael McCord told House and Senate leaders there is $1.6 billion left of the $25.9 billion Congress provided to replenish U.S. military stocks that have been flowing to Ukraine. The weapons include millions of rounds of artillery, rockets and missiles critical to Ukraine’s counteroffensive aimed at taking back territory gained by Russia in the war.In addition, the U.S. has about $5.4 billion left to provide weapons and equipment from its stockpil...

Pritzker: Federal response to migrant crisis 'uncoordinated', Illinois requests for assistance 'ignored'

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:11 GMT

CHICAGO -- A community gathering will be held on Monday at Benito Juarez Academy to discuss a new migrant shelter coming to Pilsen as Governor Pritzker calls on the federal government to step up.In a new letter to President Joe Biden, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker calls the federal response to the crisis uncoordinated and he says the federal government has largely ignored Illinois’ requests so far. The governor write:“The federal government's lack of intervention and coordination at the border has created an untenable situation for Illinois. There is much more that can and must be done on a federal level to address a national humanitarian crisis that is currently being shouldered by state and local governments without support.”The governor recommends that President Biden create a single office with an identified leader to oversee the border and coordinate with cities and states, give the state more money for housing, food and social services and speed up the work authorization process f...