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Senate Republicans outline border security measures they want as a condition for aiding Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:19 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans have released a sweeping set of U.S. border security proposals as a condition for sending more aid to Ukraine, laying out a draft plan to resume construction on parts of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, curtail humanitarian parole for people who cross into the United States and make it more difficult for migrants to qualify for asylum. President Joe Biden last month sent Congress a $105 billion request for aid to Ukraine and Israel that also sought $14 billion for managing the influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. But Republicans have said the White House proposals do not have enough teeth, and have pushed border policy changes to be linked with the aid for the two countries’ conflicts.Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has not said whether he supports the proposal released Monday by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jim Lankford of Oklahoma. But he told The Associated Press in an interview Monday that he has been di...

Nearly 1M chickens will be killed on a Minnesota farm because of bird flu

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:19 GMT

Nearly 1 million chickens on a Minnesota egg farm will be slaughtered to help limit the spread of the highly contagious bird flu after it was confirmed there, officials said Monday.The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that the virus was found at a farm in Wright County, Minnesota, as well as in three smaller flocks in South Dakota and Iowa. Whenever the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus is detected on a farm, the entire flock is killed as to keep it from spreading to other farms.In addition to the Minnesota case, the USDA said some 26,800 turkeys will be killed on a farm in McPherson County in South Dakota and nearly 17,000 birds will be slaughtered on two farms in Iowa’s Clay County.The egg and poultry industry has been dealing with a bird flu outbreak since last year. In 2022, nearly 58 million birds — mostly chicken and turkeys — were slaughtered to deal with the virus, contributing significantly higher egg and turkey prices. The Minnesota farm is the first egg-layi...

New Mexico St lawsuit alleges guns were often present in locker room

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:19 GMT

Two former New Mexico State basketball players and a student manager filed a lawsuit Monday saying their teammates frequently brought guns into the locker room where they sexually assaulted players as a way of ensuring everyone on the team remained “humble.”Kyle Feit, along with a teammate and student manager who did not want their names used, filed the lawsuit in district court in Las Cruces, New Mexico, against the school, its athletic director, Mario Moccia, and former coaches and players. All but Moccia were fired or left last season; Moccia received a contract extension and a raise.The lawsuit was filed the same day as the Aggies’ 2023-24 season opener, at Kentucky.Feit revealed his name, the lawsuit says, because “his interest in speaking out and holding all of the defendants accountable outweighs his desire to protect his personal privacy interests.”Some of the allegations — that players would sexually assault teammates after forcing them to pull their pants down — were...

A 17-year-old boy wanted in the killing of a passenger resting on a Seattle bus turns himself in

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:19 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — A 17-year-old boy wanted in the fatal and apparently random shooting of a passenger who was resting on a Seattle bus last month has turned himself in, police said Monday.Miguel Rivera Dominguez, of the south suburb of Burien, faces charges of first-degree murder and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in what prosecutors called “the senseless execution of a total stranger.”The King County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that Rivera Dominguez turned himself in without incident Monday morning. King County Superior Court records did not list an attorney who might comment on his behalf. He is being charged as an adult.According to charging documents filed last week, Rivera Dominguez was riding on a King County Metro bus in White Center, an unincorporated neighborhood south of Seattle, on Oct. 3 when he pulled a cord to request a stop and then shot Marcel Da’jon Wagner, 21, who appeared to be sleeping.A friend who was with Rivera Dominguez at the t...

Backstage with the Fugees: Pras on his hip-hop legacy as he awaits sentencing in conspiracy case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:19 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s Sunday night, backstage ahead of the second Los Angeles show of Lauryn Hill and the Fugees’ anniversary tour. It will be a few hours yet before Hill opens the concert with a solo set of “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” 25 years after its release. The seats in the arena are slowly starting to fill.Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, a founding member of the Fugees, is sitting in his dressing room at the Kia Forum, watching the Buffalo Bills play the Cincinnati Bengals. Tonight is a celebration — of his landmark group, of all of the generations who have loved their music — and of his freedom, however much remains. In April, the rapper accused in multimillion-dollar political conspiracies spanning two presidencies was convicted of 10 counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, after a trial in Washington, D.C., federal court that saw testimony from the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio.“Some of the lyrics, this art, is i...

Stellantis workers vote in favour of collective agreement: Unifor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:19 GMT

TORONTO — Unifor says Stellantis production workers voted 60 per cent in favour of a new three-year contract with the automaker.The deal covers workers at the company’s Windsor and Brampton, Ont. assembly plants and Etobicoke Casting Plant.Approval for smaller agreements covering Stellantis workers in other units ranged from 85 to 100 per cent. The union reached the tentative deal with the automaker, which mirrored deals already in place with Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co., after a brief strike on Oct. 30.Unifor members at Ford had voted 54 per cent in favour of the contract, while GM members voted 81 per cent in favour.The Stellantis contract, which will cover around 8,200 workers, will see general wages rise by 10 per cent in the first year, two per cent in the second and three per cent in the third.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2023.The Canadian Press

Youngkin and NAACP spar over felony voting rights ahead of decisive Virginia elections

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:19 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia NAACP said Monday that Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration lacks clear standards for restoring voting rights to convicted felons who served their sentences, leaving many frustrated and unable to vote in Tuesday’s nationally watched state elections. The group’s assertion followed the administration’s release Friday of more records related to how the state makes its decisions. The documents include emails between state officials and people whose requests were denied. “The Governor has deemed you ineligible for rights restoration at this time,” the emails state, while telling applicants they can reapply in a year.Applicants received no explanation or justification for their denials, while the state has provided no stated standards for who is eligible or ineligible for restored voting rights, the NAACP said in a statement Monday. In a late August email released by the state, someone who was clearly upset by the rejection pressed for m...

Florida dentist convicted of murder in 2014 slaying of his ex-brother-in-law, a law professor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:19 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A jury on Monday convicted a Florida dentist of murder in the 2014 shooting death of his former brother-in-law, a prominent law professor slain outside his Tallahassee home in the wake of a bitter custody battle with the dentist’s sister. The jurors signaled Monday in returning a verdict that they believed the prosecutors’ contentions that the defendant, Charles Adelson, paid to have Florida State University professor Dan Markel killed that year.Adelson was convicted of first-degree murder along with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and solicitation of first-degree murder, The Tallahassee Democrat reported after jurors returned with their verdict Monday afternoon.Adelson’s sister Wendi Adelson had divorced from Markel and shared custody of their two kids. She wanted to move from Tallahassee in the north of the state to South Florida to be closer to her family. However, a judge at the time ruled Wendi Adelson couldn’t relocate without Markel’s c...

Skilling: Beautiful start to the week for Chicagoland

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:19 GMT

What a to start the new week!  Temps surged into the low 70s today—following a weekend which ended up 6-degrees warmer than the weekend which preceded it. The likely ultimate high near 73-degrees Monday will come in 20-degress above normal and, while not a record for Nov 6th, CLOSE!  Only two Nov 6's over the 153 year term of official records here in Chicago have been any warmer----75-degrees on this date in 1975—48 years ago—and a 75-degree high Nov 6, 1916---107 years ago.The mild air is the product of a westerly or "zonal" flow across the Lower 48.  This is a pattern in which upper level steering winds sweep mild oceanic air off the Pacific and across the country. Zonal flows are frequent visitors in many El Nino cool seasons and it's the fact they guide maritime rather than chilly continental air our of Canada across the country that mild temps dominate such cool seasons. It doesn't by any means that cold blasts will be completely absent—but they may end up less frequent th...

CFD rescue residents from 3 alarm high rise fire on South Side

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:19 GMT

CHICAGO -- Several people were rescued Monday morning when a fire broke out in a South Side high rise.According to the Chicago Fire Department, crews responded to the 3500 block of Cottage Grove in Chicago's Oakland neighborhood around 7 a.m. on Monday. Chicago police officer shot and wounded on South Side 150 fire crews arrived on scene and learned the fire broke out on the seventh floor of the high rise. Crews rushed to get people out safely as the fire grew.Fire officials said the fire was caused by the careless use of smoking materials.Just over 100 people live in the building, but there's no word on when they may be allowed back inside.