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‘A very big wow:’ BPS valedictorians celebrate triumphant graduation after turbulent four years

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:13:15 GMT

The first class of BPS graduates is coming out of four years fully colored by the pandemic and, reading through an impressive roster of valedictorians, doing so with distinction.The 33 BPS high school valedictorians, students, educators and city officials detailed at a Fenway Park luncheon Tuesday, are going off to a range of colleges all over, prestigious scholarships and full rides, carefully plotted plans, and big ambitions.“You’re exceptional for what you have overcome to get here,” said Superintendent Mary Skipper to the room full of valedictorians and their families, recollecting that the students began high school as the pandemic began. “Nothing great happens without challenge.”Beyond the waves of disease, remote learning and isolation, the students recollected, they’ve overcome so much more.“My high school experience was — I’ll say confusing,” said McKinley Preparatory High valedictorian Kevin Works. “Up until...

Students stage walkout over Carlsbad school district's refusal to fly Pride flag

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:13:15 GMT

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- Dozens of students at Carlsbad High School staged a walkout Tuesday morning in protest over Carlsbad Unified School District's refusal to fly the Pride flag at its headquarters during Pride month.“I felt that it was an attack to LGBTQ+ students in Carlsbad, and all-around the district, for them to try to push back voting to raise the flag, and they made excuse after excuse saying, 'oh, well, we have to consult with legal team,'" one student told FOX 5.The vote, they say, was announced last-minute and without district-wide input. It comes after controversy erupted last week in the district when a video surfaced of Carlsbad High School Assistant Principal Ethan Williams speaking to members of his church about the district's Strategic Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging plan.  Carlsbad High assistant principal shares opposition to district ‘diversity, equity, inclusion’ efforts “It shouldn't be as big of a deal as it is for someone who i...

DeSantis kicks off presidential campaign in Iowa, calling for ‘revival of American greatness’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:13:15 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Calling for “a revival of American greatness,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday kicked off a multistate campaign blitz designed to strengthen his position as former President Donald Trump’s chief Republican rival.In a fiery speech during his first campaign event for the 2024 GOP nomination, he called American decline avoidable and offered himself as its alternative. “Our country is going in the wrong direction. We can see it and we can feel it,” DeSantis told about 500 people in a evangelical Christian church auditorium in suburban Des Moines plastered with red, white and blue signs proclaiming a “Great American Comeback.” Hundreds more watched from an overflow room. DeSantis, who announced his candidacy last week, unveiled a line of attack aimed chiefly at Democratic President Joe Biden. “Our great American comeback starts by sending Joe Biden back to his basement in Delaware,” he said, one of a number of lines that sparked loud cheers ...

3rd man charged in 2002 shooting death of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:13:15 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A third man has been charged in the 2002 shooting death of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay, prosecutors said Tuesday, marking the latest movement in a case that languished for years.Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York filed a superseding indictment on Tuesday, charging Jay Bryant, 49, in the death of Jason “Jay” Mizell, known professionally as Jam Master Jay. Two other men, Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan Jr., had previously been indicted in August 2020 for the death of Jay. The hip-hop trailblazer was shot in the head in his studio on Oct. 30, 2002. Bryant’s attorney, César de Castro, said in an email that they had just learned of the charges.“Securing an indictment in a secret grand jury, applying an extremely low burden of proof, is one thing. Proving it at trial is another matter,” he said.Bryant, from Queens, was in custody already on unrelated federal drug charges. At the time the other two men were indicted, authorities said Jay’s...

US Border Patrol chief is retiring following end of Title 42 restrictions at US-Mexico border

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:13:15 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the U.S. Border Patrol is stepping down following major changes at the U.S.-Mexico border that came with the end of Title 42 pandemic restrictions. Chief Raul Ortiz said in a note to staff Tuesday obtained by The Associated Press that he has decided to retire effective June 30. Ortiz has been on the job for 32 years and held many different jobs. “I leave at ease, knowing we have a tremendous uniformed and professional workforce, strong relationships with our union partners, and outstanding leaders who will continue to tirelessly advocate for you each day,” he said in the note. Ortiz took over when asked by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after the Biden administration pushed out the former chief, Rodney Scott. Ortiz had planned to retire but didn’t in order to take the helm.The Border Patrol and its 19,000 agents have been under a constant spotlight for years. Under Title 42, migrants were returned over the border and denied the rig...

Guilt-ridden man confesses to landlord’s killing 15 years later, recordings show

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:13:15 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Officers found Tony Peralta sitting on a curb not far from a convenience store where he borrowed a cellphone to call 911 and confess to the 2008 killing of his former landlord.Sweating and taking puffs from his cigarette, he told them he’s tired of covering it up, tired of living with the lie and tired of being overwhelmed by guilt. He agreed to take the officers to where he buried the body before standing up and volunteering to be cuffed.Police in the southeastern New Mexico community of Roswell released the 911 recording and nearly an hour of officer body camera video in response to a records request filed by The Associated Press. The May 1 footage shows Peralta repeatedly thanking the officers for picking him up.“I confess, man. I confess. I don’t want to live life anymore without confessing,” he said while sitting in an interview room at police headquarters. The uniformed officers and detectives who talked with Peralta peppered him with quest...

Prosecutors seek pretrial detention without bail in deadly shootout at New Mexico biker rally

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:13:15 GMT

TAOS, N.M. (AP) — Two men from Texas appeared in court Tuesday to confront drug-possession and firearms-related charges in connection with a deadly shootout at a motorcycle rally in northern New Mexico that left three people dead.Authorities say three men were killed and five people wounded during Saturday’s shootout in the mountain resort town of Red River, where the rally was held. Police say the violence stemmed from a previous altercation in Albuquerque between rival motorcycle gangs known as the Banditos and Waterdogs.Matthew Charles Jackson, 39, of Austin, Texas, entered initial pleas of not guilty to charges of carrying a firearm in a liquor establishment and methamphetamine possession at a state District Court appearance in Taos, a court-appointed defense attorney said. Texas resident Christopher Garcia also appeared in court to plead not guilty to a felony charge of cocaine possession and a misdemeanor charge of tampering with evidence.The Taos-based district attorney...

US military complains of unsafe, aggressive move by Chinese fighter jet

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:13:15 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said Tuesday that a Chinese fighter jet flew aggressively close to a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea, forcing the American pilot to fly through the turbulent wake.The Chinese J-16 fighter pilot “flew directly in front of the nose of the RC-135,” which was conducting routine operations in international airspace last Friday, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement. It called the Chinese move an “ unnecessarily aggressive maneuver.”U.S. defense leaders have complained that China’s military has become significantly more aggressive over the past five years, intercepting U.S. aircraft and ships in the region. And tensions with China have only grown in recent months over Washington’s military support and sales of defensive weapons to self-governing Taiwan, China’s assertions of sovereignty to the contested South China Sea and its flying of a suspected spy balloon over the U.S. In a further sign of the tensions, China sai...

Nevada Republican governor approves abortion protections in rare cross-party move

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:13:15 GMT

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada’s Joe Lombardo on Tuesday became one of the first Republican governors to enshrine protections for out-of-state abortion patients and in-state providers, adding the western swing state to the list of those passing new laws to solidify their status as safe havens for people seeking abortions.The legislation codifies an existing executive order from former Gov. Steve Sisolak last year — who lost reelection to Lombardo — that bars state agencies from assisting in out-of-state investigations that could lead to the prosecution of abortion patients who travel to Nevada. It also ensures medical boards and commissions that oversee medical licenses do not discipline or disqualify doctors who provide abortions. Lombardo, who describes himself as pro-life and cites his Catholic faith, said on the campaign trail that he would respect the will of voters who codified abortion rights up to 24 weeks in a 1990 referendum vote. He was the only Republican to defea...

UN extends arms embargo on South Sudan over protests from world’s newest nation and 5 abstentions

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:13:15 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A divided U.N. Security Council extended an arms embargo on South Sudan Tuesday over protests from the world’s newest nation and abstentions from Russia, China and the council’s three African nations sympathetic to its demands that sanctions be lifted.The 10-0 vote with five abstentions on the U.S.-drafted resolution was the same as the vote on the previous sanctions resolution adopted last May.In a report to the Security Council earlier this month, U.N. experts monitoring the arms embargo and a travel ban and asset freeze on targeted individuals said South Sudan is facing violent clashes and increasing disillusionment and frustration as it struggles to implement the most challenging provisions of a fragile 2018 power-sharing agreement.They pointed to difficulties integrating rival military forces, drafting a new constitution and preparing for the country’s first election as an independent nation in December 2024, they said.The resolution welcomes “encour...