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B.C. staff who failed to check on two abused foster children lose jobs: ministry

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:56:51 GMT

Staff members at the British Columbia Children’s Ministry who failed to check on two Indigenous children who were systematically abused by their foster parents have lost their jobs, the government says. A judge sentenced the foster parents this month to 10 years each in prison for the death of the 11-year-old boy and the serious injuries to his eight-year-old sister, saying it was incomprehensible how someone could inflict such pain, suffering and violence on an innocent child. While the Ministry of Children and Family Development did not provide the names or the number of people involved, it said in a statement “the staff who were directly involved in this case are no longer employed by the ministry.”Children’s Minister Mitzi Dean was not immediately available for comment Thursday.The statement said the ministry conducted a review of its involvement with the children and implemented changes to existing practices that include regular, in-person, private meeti...

Triple stabbing at University of Waterloo was hate-motivated, police say, man charged

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:56:51 GMT

A triple stabbing during a gender studies class at the University of Waterloo is believed to have been a hate-motivated attack, police said Thursday as they laid multiple charges against a 24-year-old former student. The attack that took place Wednesday injured three people and shocked the university campus located about 100 kilometres west of Toronto. Geovanny Villalba-Aleman, a recently graduated international student, faces three counts of aggravated assault, four counts of assault with a weapon and two counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, police said. “Investigators have reason to believe that this was a planned and targeted attack motivated by hate related to gender expression and gender identity,” Waterloo Regional Police Chief Mark Crowell said at a news conference Thursday. Police said the suspect walked into the gender studies class of roughly 40 students, asked the 38-year-old professor for the subject of the class, then attacked her with t...

Here’s how to keep cool and stay safe during a heat wave

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:56:51 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Scorching heat across the U.S. already has caused more than a dozen deaths in Texas alone and led to mounting misery for millions of people from the Pacific Northwest to the South.And the official end of summer is still months away. Here’s a guide on how to keep cool and stay safe in the punishing temperatures as the latest heat wave ravaging the country spreads east. WHY IS EXTREME HEAT DANGEROUS?Heat kills more Americans than any other weather event, including tornadoes and flooding, even though most heat-related deaths are preventable through outreach and intervention, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. “Heat is the silent killer. No one thinks about it,” said Ben Zaitchik, a professor and climate scientist at Johns Hopkins University whose research includes heat waves. “It’s getting hotter just about everywhere. That means even without a particular weather phenomenon, like what we’re seeing in Texas right now, we’re seeing temperatures we ar...

In the Supreme Court chamber, the subject was race, the mood was somber, the criticism harsh

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:56:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the Supreme Court ruling striking down race-based admissions in higher education, but it was the three justices who make the court the most diverse in its 233-year history who marked the stark, embittered battle lines over affirmative action.It was a moment heavy with history and emotion. Clarence Thomas, the longest serving justice and the court’s second Black justice, read a concurring opinion from the bench, pointedly rejecting the validity of using race as the basis for preferential consideration. He was followed by Sonia Sotomayor, its first Latina, whose dissenting opinion took aim at Thomas. Then came Ketanji Brown Jackson, the court’s first Black woman, whose written dissent was its own biting, metaphor-laden rebuke. The mood in the courtroom Thursday was somber, with most of the justices sitting expressionless, taking occasional sips of water. Both Jackson and Sotomayor looked straight ahead as Roberts read ...

Judge rejects Donald Trump’s request to toss out defamation claims by columnist

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:56:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s claims that absolute presidential immunity and free speech rights shield him from the defamation claims of a New York columnist were rejected Thursday by a federal judge.The writer, E. Jean Carroll, can continue to press claims that Trump owes her at least $10 million in damages for comments he made before and after she won a $5 million sexual abuse and defamation verdict against him last month, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said in a written opinion.Trump tried to dismiss the lawsuit on grounds that he is entitled to absolute presidential immunity, his statements were not defamatory and that his statements were opinion protected by free speech rights.Kaplan said Trump surrendered absolute presidential immunity as a defense by failing to assert it years ago when the lawsuit was filed. The lawsuit was delayed until recently as appeals courts considered legal issues surrounding it.Trump countersued Carroll this week, claiming that she has libele...

California’s historic work on possible Black reparations moves to the Legislature

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:56:51 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Members of California’s Black reparations task force handed off their historic two-year report to state lawmakers Thursday, beginning the next chapter in the long struggle to compensate the descendants of slavery. The first U.S. panel of its kind met one last time Thursday, urging supporters to press lawmakers into action on more than 100 recommendations. State legislators and Gov. Gavin Newsom must agree for any money to be paid or for any policy changes to be adopted.“This book of truth will be a legacy, will be a testament to the full story,” said Lisa Holder, a civil rights attorney and task force member. “Anyone who says that we are colorblind, that we have solved the problem of anti-Black animus and racism, I challenge you to read this document.”The mood was buoyant, but tinged with frustration and anger that hours earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in higher education, programs that have disproportionately helped Bla...

How an airport gets a boost from NASCAR's Chicago Street Races

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:56:51 GMT

GARY, Ind. — The arrival of NASCAR in downtown Chicago is having a positive impact on one business that's located in Northwest Indiana.That's Gary/Chicago Regional Airport, which will play a major role in the arrival and departure of the teams in the Xfinity and Cup Series races this weekend. According to executive director Dan Vicari, a "majority of the participating teams" will be using their airport this weekend. Along with avoiding the congestion of the bigger airports - O'Hare & Midway - the location is an advantage that works in their favor.Gary/Chicago Regional Airport is located 27 miles from Grant Park, where the 2.2-mile street course will be located for the Xfinity Series race on Saturday and the Cup Series race on Sunday."It means a lot," said GCIA executive director Dan Vicari of NASCAR teams using the airport to arrive and depart Chicago. "We've been spending a lot of energy in expanding our airport, proving more accommodations to make sure our airport can be used ...

'Extreme threat': Large swathe of southern US at dangerous 'wet bulb temperature'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:56:51 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Readings of a key indicator of heat exposure danger have reached the highest possible threat level in multiple southern states, as well as in a few states in the Midwest.When it comes to the "wet bulb temperature," nearly all of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas are under "extreme threat." The wet bulb temperature measures multiple stressors on the human body in direct sunlight, not in the shade, as the heat index does.(Credit: NWS) 16 states, DC currently under poor air quality alerts – here’s when things will change Thursday's soaring temperatures marked yet another day under a deadly, oppressive heatwave across the South. A heat dome over Texas that shows no signs of abating has been tied to 13 deaths in the state, including another in Louisiana, according to The Associated Press.Forecasters said temperatures could rocket up to 20 degrees above average in parts of the region as a heat dome that has taxed the Texas power grid spread eastward. O...

Dylan Mulvaney: Bud Light not standing by me worse 'than not hiring a trans person at all'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:56:51 GMT

(The Hill) — Transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney addressed in a video posted to TikTok Thursday the ongoing anti-trans controversy over her partnership with Bud Light, accusing the company of not supporting her or even reaching out after the conservative backlash.“For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse in my opinion than not hiring a trans person at all because it gives customers permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want,” Mulvaney said in her TikTok video. “And the hate doesn't end with me.” Why are teens pretending to die from McDonald’s Grimace Shake? Bud Light, which is owned by Anheuser-Busch, partnered with Mulvaney in April on an Instagram ad that included her posing with a personalized beer can. The ad immediately drew criticism from conservatives who accused the beer company of pushing a pro-LGBTQ agenda and resulted in boycotts of the beer, which recently fell from its spot as the top-selling beer brand in the U...

One person suffers life-threatening injuries after stabbing call in southeast Austin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:56:51 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- One person suffered life-threatening injuries after authorities responded to a call about a stabbing in southeast Austin Thursday.Shortly after 12:45 p.m., APD officers and Austin-Travis County EMS medics responded to the 2000 block of Kenneth Avenue.An Austin-Travis County EMS spokesperson said an adult patient, who was not identified Thursday, was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.It was not immediately clear what led to the incident, which remained under investigation by police Thursday.This is a developing story. Checks back for updates.