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Tents and suitcases go into garbage compactors as Vancouver encampment is dismantled

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:22 GMT

VANCOUVER — The garbage trucks moved slowly down Hastings Street, to the shouts and protests of residents of a homeless encampment on the sidewalks of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Into the compactors went tents, suitcases, mattresses and furniture, crushed with bags of garbage and other detritus.The implementation of a city decree to clear the encampment on Wednesday, backed by dozens of a police, was met with frustration from residents and their advocates who wonder where they’ll sleep next, even as the city says it’s too unsafe to stay. Police and city staff rolling rubber tubs labelled “personal belongings” arrived on Hastings Street on Wednesday to dismantle about 80 tents and other structures that lined the sidewalks.Residents scrambled to take down tents and pack as trash and belongings were scattered.Officials said the encampment had become a significant safety and fire hazard and, without intervention, it was a matter of time before people die...

Lawyers for man accused of killing 2 Indiana teens want move

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:22 GMT

DELPHI, Ind. (AP) — Attorneys for a man charged with killing two northern Indiana teenage girls filed an emergency court motion Wednesday seeking to move him from a prison where they claim his condition is deteriorating.The emergency request filed by Richard Matthew Allen’s lawyers in Carroll Circuit Court cited “dramatic change in Mr. Allen’s condition, including his change in demeanor, change in appearance and change in his overall mental status.”His defense team compared his treatment to that of a prisoner of war, saying he sleeps on a pad on a concrete floor, hasn’t received visits from his wife or family for the past five months, is allowed to shower only once or twice per week and is forced to wear the same clothes for “days and days on end, all of which are soiled, stained, tattered and torn.”The Delphi man has been held at the maximum-security Westville Correctional Facility since November. Allen was arrested Oct. 28 and charged with two counts of murder in the killing...

NPR protests as Twitter calls it ‘state-affiliated media’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:22 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter has labeled National Public Radio as “state-affiliated media” on the social media site, a move some worried Wednesday could undermine public confidence in the news organization.NPR said it was disturbed to see the description added to all of the tweets that it sends out, with John Lansing, its president and CEO, calling it “unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way.”It was unclear why Twitter made the move. Twitter’s owner, Elon Musk, quoted a definition of state-affiliated media in the company’s guidelines as “outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution.”“Seems accurate,” Musk tweeted in a reply to NPR.NPR does receive U.S. government funding through grants from federal agencies and departments, along with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The company said it accounts for less than 1% of NPR’s annual...

LSU’s Reese on White House flap: ‘We’ll go to the Obamas’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:22 GMT

First lady Jill Biden’s walk-back of her suggestion that runner-up Iowa should join NCAA women’s basketball champion LSU for a visit to the White House didn’t sit well with Tigers star Angel Reese.Prompted by a discussion of Biden’s comments during her Wednesday appearance on “The Paper Route Podcast,” Reese said the Tigers should celebrate their title with former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama rather than President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden.Jill Biden, at an appearance in Denver on Monday, had praised Iowa’s sportsmanship and congratulated both teams. She also said that as part of the longstanding tradition of having champions visit the White House, Iowa should come as well “because they played such a good game.”The Tigers defeated Iowa 102-85 for the title in Dallas on Sunday.Reese on Monday called Jill Biden’s suggestion “a joke.”Joe Biden invited LSU and men’s champion Connecticut to the White House...

New Mexico governor signs bill to shield abortion providers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:22 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill Wednesday that protects providers of abortions from related prosecution, professional disciplinary action or extradition attempts by out-of-state interests.A companion abortion-rights bill signed in March guarantees access to reproductive health care in response to a string of anti-abortion ordinances by cities and counties in eastern New Mexico where opposition to abortion access runs deep.New Mexico is increasingly seen as a destination for abortion patients traveling from states including Texas that have banned abortion, or those imposing major restrictions.“I think there is a lot of fear there,” said Democratic state Sen. Siah Correa Hemphill of Silver City, a school psychologist and cosponsor of the newly signed bill. “We want to make sure New Mexico is a state that is safe for women and safe for health care workers.”The new law also protects medical providers when it comes to gender-affirming...

Thousands without power as freezing rain, thunderstorms hit Ontario and Quebec

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:22 GMT

About 800,000 people in Ontario and Quebec were without power Wednesday after a messy mix of freezing rain, and thunderstorms pummeled parts of both provinces.Quebec’s power utility said shortly after 5 p.m. that more than 676,000 of its 4.5 million customers had no power, with much of the province under a freezing rain warning.“What’s causing the outages is the mixture of precipitation and wind,” Hydro-Quebec spokeswoman Gabrielle Leblanc said. “It weighs down the vegetation; there can be branches and trees that fall on the lines.”In western Quebec’s Outaouais region, near Ottawa, about 120,000 of the utility’s nearly 227,000 customers were without power. Environment Canada forecasted between 30 millimetres and 50 millimetres of rain in Gatineau, Que., the largest city in the region.In Montreal, more than 316,000 hydro customers had lost power, while another 171,000 people were dealing with outages in the Monteregie region, south of t...

WATCH: WGN celebrates 75 years with special report

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:22 GMT

As WGN TV celebrates 75 years, we’re looking back with a series of stories on the history and the memories.CHICAGO — The dawn of a new era began on April 5, 1948, when WGN-TV officially went on the air for the first time.  Colonel Robert R. McCormick, former head of the Tribune Company, commented, “In television we have embarked upon another of America’s adventures.  Come along with us!  Let us share the adventure together.”On Thursday from 7 p.m. — 9 p.m. Central Time WGN-TV will air a special report. This original WGN-TV production will look back at the station’s rich 75-year history.The following stories will be featured in the special report. ‘Our adventure into television’: WGN-TV at the dawn of a new era Chicago’s ‘Jack of all Trades’ Brickhouse was the face of WGN-TV for five decades Led by Bozo, WGN’s kids’ shows were a Grand March of fun The Master at Work: Tracking a storm with Tom Skilling The story of the slogan: How WGN became ‘Chicago...

Who Might be Chicago's 'next' Top Cop?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:22 GMT

CHICAGO — While Brandon Johnson was not the candidate favored by many in law enforcement, Chicago’s next mayor has already begun the process of selecting the city’s next top cop.  However, Johnson will have a more diminished role in the selection process than his predecessors.“We want to make sure we’re putting power back into the hands of the people and residents have a voice in this,” said Anthony Driver, the head of the newly created Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA). A new city ordinance gives his group the authority to search, interview and recommend three finalists for the job of police superintendent.  The mayor then picks from the list of finalists.  “We’re in a very unique time,” Driver said. “Public safety is a huge issue in the City of Chicago and I’m looking for someone who has experience either implementing a consent decree or who views the consent decree as a floor and not the ceiling." Police payouts soaring in city of ...

Federal judge finds City of Chicago liable, violated Americans with Disabilities Act

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:22 GMT

CHICAGO — A federal judge is holding the City of Chicago liable for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), saying the city has failed to provide accessible pedestrian signals to those who are blind or have low vision at intersections across the city.In April 2021, the DoJ moved to intervene in a disability discrimination lawsuit that people with visual disabilities brought against the City under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. The complaint, filed at the time by the federal government, alleged the City failed to provide people who are blind, have low vision or are deaf-blind with accessible pedestrian signals (APS's) at intersections, e.g., the equivalent of "walk/don't walk" visual signals that indicate when it is safe to cross the street for pedestrians without visual disabilities.Examples of APS's include devices that communicate safe-crossing information in a non-visual format, such as through audible tones, speech messages and vibrotactile surfaces. Supreme ...

Oak Park churches damaged due to high winds

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:22 GMT

OAK PARK, Ill. — A century-old church and another church in Oak Park suffered damage from the recent high winds.School was in session Wednesday at The Children's School, which rents space from St. Edmund Parish, when huge pieces of stone were blown onto the sidewalk from the top of the building. Major flight cancelations, delays as severe weather moves through Chicago area "I was shocked, I was surprised," St. Edmund Catholic Parishioner Tom Pivarski said. "I was surprised both buildings were damaged, the school and the church."A parent of one of the school children said she heard the spires crash to the ground around 1 or 1:30 p.m. while school was in session. Along with the heavy stones, shingles appeared to have blown off the building and street signs were on the ground. A sixth-grader said he was in school when the storm brought the stones to the ground. Large hailstones in Tuesday’s storms; more Severe Weather threatens Wednesday morning "Me and my friend Henry, we were lo...