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US Rep. George Santos repays himself $85K raised from lackluster reelection fundraising

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 05:50:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Embattled freshman U.S. Rep. George Santos, a Republican from New York charged with a host of financial crimes, including embezzling money from his campaign, withdrew $85,000 from his campaign to help repay hundreds of thousands of dollars he loaned himself to get elected in 2022.Congressional campaign records released Friday show Santos raised a relatively paltry $138,000 during the last three months for a reelection bid that is expected to be one of the country’s most-watched and hotly contested races in 2024.The records show he spent nearly $118,000, the bulk of it to begin repaying the more than $700,000 he loaned himself for his successful but surprising victory last year.The underwhelming fundraising suggests potential struggles in fending off a challenge from fellow Republican Kellen Curry, an Afghanistan war veteran and former J.P. Morgan banker, who raised more than $200,000 and spent $36,000 during the same period.Meanwhile, the top Democrat vying for...

FBI opens criminal investigations into violent Los Angeles County deputy encounters

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 05:50:59 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The FBI has opened criminal investigations into violent encounters involving Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, including one in which a deputy punched a woman in the face as she held her baby.Federal authorities visited the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department headquarters to take documents related to the probes, according to an email obtained by the newspaper, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.Department officials confirmed the visit and told the newspaper they planned to cooperate with investigators.The second case being scrutinized by the FBI involves a deputy who threw a woman to the ground by her neck last month in a grocery store parking lot after she started recording an arrest with her cellphone.In addition to the federal investigations, the California Department of Justice has agreed to review the case of 18-year-old Andres Guardado, who was shot in the back three years ago by a sheriff’s deputy in the city of Gardena, south of Los Ang...

Cultural sharing key part of North American Indigenous Games as sacred fire lit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 05:50:59 GMT

HALIFAX — Organizers of the North American Indigenous Games ignited a sacred fire on Saturday, saying the rekindling of First Nations culture is at the heart of the sports competition.“We set the goal at these games to have 50 per cent culture and 50 per cent sport, so we’re infusing cultural aspects into all aspects of the games themselves,” said games president George (Tex) Marshall in an interview after the ceremony.The 2023 version of the games is taking place at venues in Halifax, referred to as Kjipuktuk, along with events at Millbook First Nation, near Truro, N.S., and Sipekne’katik First Nation, about 60 kilometres north of Halifax.Sports include the traditional Indigenous sports of canoe/kayak, archery, and box lacrosse, as well as soccer, softball, swimming, volleyball, wrestling, beach volleyball, rifle shooting, golf, athletics, badminton, baseball and basketball.Indigenous ceremonies will occur at each of the venues, said Marshall. “There w...

CPD: 27-year-old woman missing from the Hermosa neighborhood

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 05:50:59 GMT

CHICAGO — The Chicago Police Department is looking for the public's assistance in helping find a woman who went missing in the Hermosa neighborhood Friday.Antoinette Mathis, 27-year-old missing from the Hermosa neighborhood.According to CPD, 27-year-old Antoinette Mathis was last seen leaving her residence in the 2100 block of North Kildare Avenue Friday. Police said she was wearing a black top, black pants, and a gray sweater wrapped around her waist the last time she was seen.She is described as being around 5-foot-6-inches tall, weighing around 108 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.Anyone with information that can help detectives find Mathis is asked to contact Area Five detectives at 312-746-6554.

Man shot after attempted armed robbery on South Side

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 05:50:59 GMT

CHICAGO -- A 22-year-old man is in critical condition after resisting an armed robbery on the Far South Side, police said. The man was found in the 11000 block of South Western Avenue around 1:48 a.m. with a gunshot wound to the chest. Teen, 17, shot in arm on West Side: CPD Police investigation found that the man was approached by unidentified individual who attempted to rob him at gunpoint. The man refused and the armed individual fired shots before fleeing on foot.There is currently no one in custody and police are investigating the incident.

Mass shooting in Georgia: At least 4 killed, county says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 05:50:59 GMT

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — A county government official in Georgia says at least four people have been killed in a mass shooting in a small community south of Atlanta.A statement from Henry County officials said police were still investigating an “active shooter incident” that occurred late Saturday morning at a subdivision in Hampton, a city of about 8,500 people about 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of Atlanta.“I can confirm that four people are deceased," county government spokeswoman Melissa Robinson told The Associated Press by phone. "As of right now, the suspect is still at large.”Police in Hampton, Georgia, planned to release more details at a Saturday afternoon news conference.Several local law enforcement agencies were assisting, as was the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said she had no information other than that GBI agents had been asked to help.This is a developing story.

Billy Baldwin went to same high school as suspected Long Island serial killer, he says: 'Mind-boggling'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 05:50:59 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – “Backdraft” actor Billy Baldwin said Friday that he and Rex Heuermann, the suspect accused in a string of murders on Long Island, had attended the same school in the late ‘70s-early ‘80s.“Woke up this morning to learn that the Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect was my high school classmate Rex Heuermann,” Baldwin tweeted, calling the discovery “mind-boggling.” Who is Rex Heuermann? What we know about Long Island serial killer suspect Baldwin, whose famous family includes actors Alec Baldwin and Steven Baldwin, was born in Massapequa, New York — the same Long Island town where Heuermann said he’d lived all his life, Nexstar's WPIX reported.Baldwin also identified Massapequa’s Berner High School as his and Heuermann’s alma mater — a claim many of the school’s alumni have seemingly confirmed on Facebook since Heuermann’s arrest.This booking image provided by Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, shows Rex Heuermann, a Long Island architect who was charged Friday, July 14, 2023,...

5 non-climate dangers that extreme heat can contribute to

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 05:50:59 GMT

(The Hill) – Heat waves are the most deadly climate disaster, killing far more people every year than wildfires, hurricanes and floods combined.But rising temperatures aren’t the only reason that extreme heat is becoming a bigger risk.Other important reasons include discriminatory urban planning, the insidious nature of heat illness itself and the decade-long federal tug-of-war over how to respond to heat waves.Here are five reasons — aside from climate change — why heat risk is worsening.The U.S. spent years ‘moving backward’ on heatIn 2013, President Barack Obama issued a sweeping executive order which aimed to make U.S. communities more resilient in the face of the impacts of climate change — from rising seas to rising temperatures.That order sought to coordinate actions by federal agencies to protect populations from climate risk — and to ensure that infrastructure spending wasn’t inadvertently making the country less safe.  El Niño could mean the hott...

Grading the Week: Behold, the Hunter Tyson Era of Nuggets basketball is upon us

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 05:50:59 GMT

The future has arrived, and his name is Hunter Tyson.Yes, we’re just four Summer League games into his Nuggets career, but consider Grading the Week the lead conductor of the Hunter Tyson hype train.Hunter Tyson — AOK, let’s get one thing out of the way right off the bat:Just because some guy lights it up at NBA Summer League doesn’t necessarily mean he is going to do the same in the Association. There are countless examples of players who set Las Vegas ablaze, only to flame out once the games actually count. (We’re looking at you, Nikoloz Tskitishvili.)That being said, we love what we’ve seen thus far.This is a man with the spiciness of a Bruce Brown, the confidence of a Jamal Murray and the leaping ability of a Jokic brother. Oh, and he can also shoot the lights out.On Friday night alone, the 6-foot-8 Clemson product scored 31 points on just 13 shots (11 of 13) and sank a ridiculous 7 of 9 from 3-point range. Through four games, he was the No. 4 score...

The faltering PR campaign of Old Kazakhstan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 05:50:59 GMT

During her parliamentary speech on February 3, 2022, UK parliamentarian Dame Margaret Hodges shed light on a group of individuals associated with Kazakhstan’s former president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had illicitly funnelled billions of dollars through the United Kingdom - writes Poul AndreasenWith Nazarbayev's departure from power and the rise of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as the new president, a significant challenge now looms over the so-called Old Kazakhstan elites, posing an existential threat to their status quo. The people of Kazakhstan strongly yearn for justice, and Tokayev has demonstrated a resolute commitment to delivering it. In this context, the initiation of prosecutions against these corrupt individuals in Kazakhstan not only holds potential for recovering and repatriating assets but also indicates the UK's willingness to collaborate in the pursuit of justice.Following his inauguration as president in 2019, Tokayev initiated the dismantling of the Nazarbayev regime by r...