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Ransomware criminals post kids’ private files after school hacks in Twin Cities, elsewhere

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:20 GMT

The confidential documents stolen from schools and dumped online by ransomware gangs are raw, intimate and graphic. They describe student sexual assaults, psychiatric hospitalizations, abusive parents, truancy — even suicide attempts.“Please do something,” begged a student in one leaked file, recalling the trauma of continually bumping into an ex-abuser at a school in Minneapolis. Other victims talked about wetting the bed or crying themselves to sleep.Complete sexual assault case folios containing these details were among more than 300,000 files dumped online in March after the 36,000-student Minneapolis Public Schools refused to pay a $1 million ransom. Other exposed data included medical records and discrimination complaints.Rich in digitized data, the nation’s schools are prime targets for far-flung criminal hackers, who are assiduously locating and scooping up sensitive files.Often strapped for cash, districts are grossly ill-equipped not just to defend themselves but to respon...

Northern Minnesota man dies in apparent drowning after going fishing with his dog

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:20 GMT

PENGILLY, Minn. — A northern Minnesota man died in an apparent drowning Monday.A 911 caller told dispatchers Monday morning that they saw an empty boat circling the northern end of Swan Lake, the Itasca County County Sheriff’s Office reported Wednesday. Moments earlier, the caller said, they had seen the boat moving past them with a man and a dog inside.Responding sheriff’s deputies secured the boat with the dog safely inside, but the man — James Kleffman, 52, of Pengilly — was still missing.The county’s search and rescue team found Kleffman’s body at the bottom of the lake that evening. Kleffman, authorities said, had left his home around 8 a.m. to fish with his dog.County staff told the Duluth News Tribune that it’s unclear how Kleffman ended up in the water. An autopsy is pending.Related ArticlesLocal News | Bodies of 3 missing swimmers recovered from Minnesota river Local News | Search continues for 3 from Oakdale who remain missing after swimmin...

Wild RFAs Filip Gustavsson and Brandon Duhaime file for salary arbitration

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:20 GMT

As contract negotiations with the Wild continue, goaltender Filip Gustavsson and winger Brandon Duhaime filed for salary arbitration Wednesday.It’s not as bad as it sounds on the surface.All it means is Gustavsson and Duhaime, both of whom are restricted free agents, now have the option for a hearing later this summer where an arbitrator would decide how much their salary would be. In the meantime, the Wild can continue to speak to both players with hopes of coming to an agreement. Typically, when a player files for salary arbitration in the NHL, both sides are able to finalize a contract before a hearing is necessary.But in a perfect world for Wild general manager Bill Guerin, this already would have been figured out. There is clearly a disconnect between the Wild and the representatives for Gustavsson and Duhaime. If there wasn’t, both players already would be under contract.The top priority for the Wild this offseason has been signing Gustavsson. He established himsel...

UPDATE: Amber Alert canceled after child located safe in Creve Coeur

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:20 GMT

BRECKENRIDGE HILLS, Mo. – Approximately 10 minutes after issuing an Amber Alert for a child abduction in Breckenridge Hills, the Missouri State Highway Patrol canceled said alert. The child in question was located found safe by Creve Coeur police.The prior alert said authorities were looking for a white 2020 Chevy Equinox with unknown license plates. No additional details were provided.It's unclear if police have anyone in custody.This is a breaking news story. FOX 2 will have more information as it becomes available.

Violence marks the end to this year's Fourth of July celebrations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:20 GMT

ST. LOUIS – In the past week, St. Louis homicide detectives have been tasked with solving four killings.At approximately 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, a man was found dead from an apparent gunshot wound, and a woman was also found with a gunshot wound to her arm, in the 4100 block of Chippewa.On July 1, a 26-year-old man and 24-year-old man were found shot to death inside an apartment at the 700 block of Carr. On July 2, a 49-year-old man was found shot after an ambulance was flagged down at the 2400 block of Union. He was transported to an area hospital where he was later pronounced dead.“Also in the last week, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has reported 45 aggravated assaults involving a firearm, 20 robberies—four of which were carjackings—and 106 car thefts,” Lt. Michael McAteer said. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News ...

Avalanche’s potential lineup after free agency mad dash, and what Colorado still needs this offseason

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:20 GMT

If the Avs had prevailed in Game 7, as they probably should have considering the extent to which they outplayed the underdog Kraken that night in April, there’s a fair chance their 2023-24 lineup would look mostly indistinguishable from last season’s.But with a small army of pending unrestricted free agents, a first-round playoff exit for the defending champions all but etched their fate in stone. Colorado was due for a supporting cast overhaul.After just two days in July, the new-look Avalache roster was already close to complete.“We’ll still tinker around the edges, I think, potentially,” Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland said. “But we’ll let it breathe.”With multiple draft-week trades, free agent signings and contracts extensions, the Avs have pieced together a loose form for next season without Gabriel Landeskog. Here’s how it stacks up as of early July:ForwardsNathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen — fifth and si...

Robert De Niro’s grandson could be the latest fentanyl casualty, according to mother

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:20 GMT

Robert De Niro’s daughter Drena said that her son Leandro De Niro Rodriguez likely died last weekend after taking pills that were laced with fentanyl — a claim that, if true, would make him the latest high-profile person to die in what authorities say is a drug overdose epidemic that’s been driven by the availability of the highly potent synthetic opioid.“Someone sold him fentanyl laced pills that they knew were laced yet still sold them to him,” Drena De Niro alleged on Instagram Wednesday, in response to someone asking how her son, 19, died over the weekend, Page Six reported. Drena De Niro railed against all the people who illegally sell and buy fentanyl. “My son is gone forever,” she said.Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, 19, was found dead Sunday in a New York City apartment where he was staying. Reports  by TMZ and the Daily Mail said that authorities are investigating his death as a possible overdose and that drugs and drug paraphernalia were found near...

It’s rained more in Denver by now than it normally does all year, with more likely

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:20 GMT

“When it rains, it pours” is not just an old adage but a lifestyle in Denver this spring and summer.It rained more in Denver by July 4 than it normally rains all year, according to the National Weather Service. As of July 5, the city absorbed 15.2 inches of rain, breaking the annual precipitation average of 14.48 inches, said Kari Bowen, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.The past couple of months have proven to be the wettest 60-day period on National Weather Service record and Denver’s June falls into hall-of-fame status as the rainiest June in the city in at least the last 150 years.Typically, average June rainfall tops out at about 1.94 inches, but this June was drenched with 6.10 inches of rain.The total rain in May and June this year — 11.63 inches of rain — was the rainiest the city has ever been in those two months, going back to the start of the weather service’s record keeping in 1872.Why have we been getting so much precipitation? Bowe...

Love is in the air at Wimbledon. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa are dating

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:20 GMT

By HOWARD FENDRICH (AP Tennis Writer)WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — There is love in the air at Wimbledon and not just in the scores: Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa are dating.After winning her first-round match at Court 15 at the All England Club on Wednesday, Badosa made it over to the stands at No. 2 Court to watch the conclusion of Tsitsipas’ victory.When Tsitsipas was told during his on-court interview that Badosa had advanced, too, he said that was news to him and offered congratulations, later referring to her as “Paulita.” Standing next to his father in the crowd, Badosa put her hands together in the shape of a heart.“It’s different kind of nerves,” Badosa said in describing what it’s like to be cheering for him as opposed to playing her own contests. “Watching it from the outside, maybe I get a little bit more nervous, because I cannot control it. But I’m happy that he got the win, and it was a crazy match. Happy t...

Strong demand drives US new vehicle sales higher in the first half of the year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:20 GMT

Demand for new SUVs, trucks and cars in the U.S. picked up steam in the second quarter, but the stronger sales kept prices high for consumers.Auto sales rose a healthy 16.8% from April through June to just over 4.1 million, fueled by pent-up demand from nearly two years of short supplies due to factories that were hobbled by the global computer chip shortage.For much of the year, average prices pulled back a bit and automakers raised discounts a little. But in June, those trends began to stall out, said Ivan Drury, director of insights for Edmunds.com. Consumers paid an average of $45,978 per vehicle in June, according to J.D. Power estimates. That’s flat from June of last year, but almost $1,400 less than in December of 2022 when prices peaked. Inventory on dealer lots was expected to be just over 1.2 million vehicles in June, about the same as most of this year, J.D. Power said. Because of increased demand, supplies aren’t growing. Electric vehicle sales continued to r...