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DeSantis won’t meet with Biden during president’s trip to survey Idalia damage

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ‘ office said Friday that he’s not going to meet with President Joe Biden when the Democrat flies to Florida this weekend to survey damage from Hurricane Idalia, suggesting that doing so could hinder disaster response. “In these rural communities, and so soon after impact, the security preparations alone that would go into setting up such a meeting would shut down ongoing recovery efforts,” DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern said in a statement. Idalia made landfall Wednesday morning along Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 3 storm, causing widespread flooding and damage before moving north to drench Georgia and North Carolina. Biden is set to fly to Florida on Saturday to tour the damage personally. But DeSantis preemptively heading off a meeting contradicts Biden himself, who, when asked after an event at the White House earlier Friday whether he would meet with DeSantis during his trip to Florida, replied, “Ye...

Attorney: Myon Burrell, locked up for life as teen in killing but later freed, denies new charges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man who was a teenager when he was sent to prison for life in a high-profile murder case — then released 18 years later when his sentence was commuted — was charged Friday with gun and drug felonies after police said they found a handgun and drugs in his SUV during a traffic stop.Myon Burrell, now 37, made his first court appearance Friday, where bail was set at $50,000. His attorney said Burrell denies the allegations. “As in so many criminal prosecutions, things may not be as they first appear,” said his attorney, Paul Applebaum. “I am particularly interested in the circumstances surrounding the initial traffic stop of Mr. Burrell.”Burrell was previously convicted in the 2008 death of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards, a Minneapolis girl who was doing her homework when she was hit by a stray bullet. Burrell was 16 at the time of the slaying and was sentenced to life. He always maintained his innocence, and his prosecution and punishment raised questio...

Officials can’t interfere with local Tennessee Pride festival under anti-drag law, judge rules

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge ruled Friday that law enforcement officials can’t use a Tennessee law that strictly limits drag shows to interfere with a local Pride festival this weekend, favoring event organizers who sued after a district attorney warned he intends to enforce the new statute even after another federal judge ruled it unconstitutional.U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer in Knoxville granted a temporary restraining order that prevents District Attorney Ryan Desmond and other local law enforcement officials from enforcing the state law or interfering with the Blount County Pride festival scheduled for Saturday. That includes no discouraging of third parties from hosting or modifying the event, including the venue of Maryville College, the judge wrote.Earlier this year, a federal judge across the state in Memphis ruled Tennessee’s anti-drag show law was “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad,” and encouraged “discriminatory enforcement.” The r...

Company gets $2.6 million to relinquish oil lease on Montana land that’s sacred to Native Americans

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Louisiana company will receive $2.6 million to relinquish the last remaining oil and gas lease on U.S. forest land near Montana’s Glacier National Park that’s sacred to Native Americans, government officials and attorneys involved in the deal said Friday. The deal would resolve a decades-long dispute over the 10-square-mile (25-square-kilometer) oil and gas lease in the mountainous Badger-Two Medicine area of northwestern Montana. The lease was issued in 1982 but has not been developed. It’s on the site of the creation story for the Blackfoot tribes of southern Canada and Montana’s Blackfeet Nation. Tribal members bitterly opposed drilling.In exchange for giving up the lease, Solenex LLC will receive $2 million from the federal government and $600,000 from a coalition of groups that intervened in the case, said David McDonald with the Mountain States Legal Foundation, which represented the company.The Wyss Foundation, a charitable group founded by Swiss bill...

5 former employees at Georgia juvenile detention facility indicted in 16-year-old girl’s 2022 death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

DALTON, Ga. (AP) — Five former employees at a northwest Georgia juvenile detention center have been indicted following the August 2022 death of a 16-year-old who was in custody.The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Friday that a Whitfield County grand jury on Monday had indicted the former director and nurse at the Elbert Shaw Regional Youth Detention Center in Dalton, as well as three former guards.All are accused of cruelty to children in the death of Alexis Sluder, an Ellijay girl who had been transferred to the detention center hours before.At the time, the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice said Sluder died from an adverse reaction to “an illegal substance she ingested” before being brought to the Dalton facility.But indictments charge three guards with depriving Sluder of necessary medical care by failing to quickly call emergency medical help. Those three — 35-year-old Maveis Brooks of Calhoun, 62-year-old Russell Ballard of Chatsworth and 45-year-old Rebeck...

Metal factory explosion in Brazil kills 4 and injures at least 30

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

SAO PAULO (AP) — An explosion Friday at a metal factory in the countryside of Brazil’s most populous state killed four people and seriously injured at least 30 others, officials said.Dozens of firefighters and rescue teams were sent to the site of the explosion in the city of Cabreuva, Sao Paulo Gov. Tarcisio de Freitas said on social media. Cabreuva lies about 90 kilometers (about 60 miles) northwest of the city of Sao Paulo.Footage on Brazilian TV broadcasters showed the factory completely destroyed by the explosion.Local media outlets said the blast was triggered by overheating equipment, and that hospitals in the area had been warned there would be a big influx of injured patients.The Associated Press

Parenting advice YouTuber Ruby Franke charged with aggravated child abuse of 2 of her 6 children

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

A Utah woman who gave online parenting advice via a once-popular YouTube channel was charged Friday with six felony counts of aggravated child abuse after two of her six children were found abused and malnourished, authorities said.Ruby Franke, whose now-defunct channel “8 Passengers” chronicled her family life, was arrested Wednesday night in the southern Utah city of Ivins. She was taken into custody at the home of Jodi Hildebrandt, who owns a counseling business that she says teaches people to improve their lives by being honest, responsible and humble. Hildebrandt was also arrested Wednesday and faces the same six abuse charges.Franke appears in YouTube videos with Hildebrandt that were posted online by Hildebrandt’s counseling business, ConneXions Classroom.Prosecutors allege Franke and Hildebrandt either caused or allowed someone to torture Franke’s 12-year-old son and injure her 10-year-old daughter. Both children were starved and harmed emotionally, prosecutors said. Both wo...

Car overturns in serious crash in Morton Grove

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

MORTON GROVE, Ill. — One car overturned in a serious crash Friday evening in Morton Grove.The crash happened on Waukegan Road between Golf Road and Dempster Street. 2 South Elgin High School students killed in crash identified Details about any injuries or the investigation haven't been released by police. This is a developing story and will be updated.

Police charge woman accused of mail thefts in Chicago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

CHICAGO — A woman accused of several burglaries and mail thefts around the Chicago area has been taken into custody, according to the United States Postal Inspection Service.In a security video, the suspect, who can be seen using a postal master key, opened the mailboxes in a Bucktown apartment complex and stole several packages and envelopes from the residents. ‘Beyond frightful’: 2 men injured in suburban Metra stairway collapse The Postal Inspection Service says the suspect, 33-year-old Kalea Blanke, was identified thanks to a joint investigation with the Chicago Police Department.“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is dedicated to defending the nation’s mail system from criminal activity, preserving the integrity of the U.S. Mail, and protecting United States Postal Service employees." Ruth Mendonça, Inspector in Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, said. "We value our law enforcement partners and their support of our mission." Nearly 1.6M fl...

APD identifies man accused of shooting one person and seriously injuring another at The Arboretum

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – On Friday, the Austin Police Department identified a man accused of shooting one person and seriously injuring another at the Teapioca Lounge in The Arboretum outdoor shopping mall on Thursday.Police identified the suspect as Tang-Kang Dave Chiang, 38, and identified the victim who died on the scene as Laura Jauregui, 64.It's still not known what the relationship between Chiang, Jauregui and the other shooting victim was, per a Friday Austin Police Department press release. Multiple The Arboretum business employees told KXAN the shooting occurred at the Teapioca Lounge in the outdoor mall. The boba tea business was closed Friday afternoon with one of its windows boarded up. Teapioca Lounge posted to its Facebook Friday about the shooting. "It is with heavy hearts that Teapioca Lounge, a dedicated member of the Arboretum in Austin, Texas, expresses its deepest condolences to the victims, families, and communities affected by the recent tragedy that took place," the bu...