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Mississippi ex-governor releases texts in welfare scandal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:40 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on Wednesday released what he said were all of his text and email messages related to a welfare fraud investigation — including money spent on building a university volleyball arena that was pushed by NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre.The 436 pages of messages had several that already appeared in court filings, including exchanges from 2017 to 2019 between the governor and the retired quarterback, with Favre saying he had agreed to raise money for the volleyball facility at the University of Southern Mississippi and asking Bryant for help with that effort.From 2016 to 2019, the Mississippi Department of Human Services misspent more than $77 million in welfare money that was supposed to help some of the poorest people in the U.S., according to the state auditor. Prosecutors have said the department gave money to nonprofit organizations that spent it on projects such as the $5 million volleyball facility on the Hattiesburg campus.B...

Feasibility study complete into search of Winnipeg landfill for women’s remains

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:40 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal minister responsible for Crown-Indigenous relations says a study has been completed into whether it’s possible for a Winnipeg-area landfill to be searched for the remains of two Indigenous women.Marc Miller’s office did not release any details from the feasibility study and says in a statement that it’s being reviewed.Ottawa provided $500,000 to the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs for studying a search at the Prairie Green landfill.Winnipeg police said in December that they believe the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran are in the landfill north of the city.But they said that it would be too difficult to search due to the passage of time and a large volume of material deposited at the site.Jeremy Anthony Michael Skibicki faces charges of first-degree murder in the deaths of the two women as well as in the killings of Rebecca Contois and a fourth unidentified woman Indigenous leaders have named Buffalo Woman.The partial remains of Contois w...

Kari Lake’s lawyers fined in failed Arizona election lawsuit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:40 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Republican Kari Lake’s lawyers were sanctioned $2,000 Thursday by the Arizona Supreme Court in their unsuccessful challenge of her defeat in the governor’s race last year to Democrat Katie Hobbs.In an order, the state’s highest court said Lake’s attorney made “false factual statements” that more than 35,000 ballots had been improperly added to the total ballot count. They have 10 days to submit the payment to the court clerk. The court, however, refused to order Lake to pay attorney fees to cover the costs of defending Hobbs and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes in Lake’s appeal.Chief Justice Robert Brutinel cited Lake’s challenge over signature verification remains unresolved.Hobbs and Fontes said Lake and her attorneys should face sanctions for baselessly claiming that over 35,000 ballots were inserted into the race at a facility where a contractor scanned mail-in ballots to prepare them for county election workers to process and count. When the high court firs...

250 evacuated as Volcano of Fire erupts in Guatemala

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:40 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — About 250 residents were evacuated Thursday from the slopes of Guatemala’s Volcano of Fire as red-hot rock and ash flowed down the slopes toward an area devastated by a deadly 2018 eruption.Firefighters said residents of the hamlet of Panimache were taken to shelters.Guatemala’s disaster agency said the volcano had been emitting ash clouds that could affect as many as 100,000 people in communities around the peak.The 12,300-foot (3,763-meter) high Volcano of Fire is one of the most active in Central America. The 2018 eruption killed 194 people and left another 234 missing.The biggest danger from the volcano are lahars, a mixture of ash, rock, mud and debris, that can bury entire towns.The disaster agency said that such lahars were flowing down four of the seven gullies on the volcano’s flanks.The Associated Press

Judge extends suspension of Missouri AG’s transgender rule

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:40 GMT

A judge has extended her order barring the enforcement of a unique rule pushed by Missouri’s Republican attorney general that would require adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy and fulfill other requirements before they could receive gender-affirming treatments such as puberty blockers, hormones and surgery.Attorney General Andrew Bailey initially sought to implement the rule effective April 27, prompting a lawsuit on behalf of transgender people. St. Louis County Judge Ellen Ribaudo on Monday granted a temporary restraining order and originally scheduled a May 11 hearing on the lawsuit.A posting Thursday on Missouri’s online court system shows that Ribaudo pushed back the hearing to July 20, following a joint request from both sides. The posting said the order will remain in effect until July 24 or until the judge rules on whether to grant a preliminary injunction.A spokeswoman for Bailey confirmed the date change, saying the July hearing date was ...

US often didn’t screen workers at migrant centers: Watchdog

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:40 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The federal Health and Human Services Department often failed to perform required background checks on workers at emergency holding centers for migrant children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border alone during a surge in 2021, the agency’s internal watchdog has found.The inspector general’s report released Thursday raises questions about how better prepared authorities will be for the next emergency, especially with coronavirus pandemic-related asylum restrictions scheduled to end this coming week and expected to result in more arrivals. The report, based on a sampling, found that 200 workers did not have background checks for child abuse or neglect and only 29 did, though 20 of those were not done in a “timely manner.”Investigators found 174 did not have FBI fingerprint background checks while 55 did, but 25 of those were not done in a “timely manner.” Checks against the Justice Department’s sex offender registry, which were required less often, we...

Oakland teachers union on strike; schools open without them

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:40 GMT

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — More than 3,000 teachers and other workers in the Oakland Unified School District went on strike Thursday, saying the district failed to bargain in good faith on a new contract that asks for more resources for students and higher pay for employees. The district’s 80 schools remained open for the roughly 34,000 students and office staff were tapped to “educate and supervise” the students, administrators said.The teachers union, the Oakland Education Association, called a strike late Wednesday, demanding higher wages, smaller classes, more guidance counselors, improved services for students with disabilities, additional mental health help for students still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, and support for Historically Black Community Schools. “Oakland’s teachers are the lowest paid in the Bay Area and have not had a new contract since prior to the pandemic,” the union said in a statement. “Meanwhile, rising inflation and a steep rise in the cost of r...

Donald Trump seeks to move NY criminal case to federal court

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:40 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump ‘s lawyers have asked a federal court to take control of his New York City criminal case. They argued Thursday that the former president can’t be tried in the state court where his historic indictment was brought because the alleged conduct occurred while he was in office.In court papers, Trump’s lawyers said the criminal case “involves important federal questions,” including alleged violations of federal election law. Federal officers, including former presidents, have the right to be tried in federal court for charges arising from “conduct performed while in office,” the lawyers argued.Echoing Trump’s claims that his indictment is “politically motivated,” lawyer Susan Necheles urged the federal court to exert its “protective jurisdiction” and seize the case from the state courts where Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg routinely practices. Such requests are rarely granted in criminal cases, although Trump’s request is...

How Oklahoma rapist got out of prison early, then killed 6

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:40 GMT

Questions mounted Thursday about why an Oklahoma sex offender who authorities say shot to death his wife, her three children and their two friends and then killed himself was freed from prison early, despite facing new sex charges in a separate case.Those questions include how he was released on good behavior when the new charges were for solicited nude images from a teen while he was imprisoned, why was he released on $25,000 bond, and how was a man convicted of raping a teenager able to live with teenage girls?If things had gone differently in the Oklahoma criminal justice system, family members of the victims said, maybe their loved ones would still be alive.Jesse McFadden, a 39-year-old convicted rapist, was scheduled to be in court on Monday for the start of a jury trial on charges that while in prison for rape he used a contraband cell phone to solicit a 16-year-old girl and exchanged nude photographs with her.Those new felony charges were filed in 2017, more than three years ...

50 Cent coming to Chicago's United Center this summer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:40 GMT

Rapper 50 Cent is set to embark on a multi-city world tour that includes a stop in Chicago, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the mogul's debut album, "Get Rich or Die Tryin."The second-to-last stop of the US/Canada portion of the 'Final Lap Tour 2023,' brings 50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, to the United Center on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. Busta Rhymes and Jeremih are also scheduled to appear. Erykah Badu coming to Chicago this summer Pre-sale tickets will be available for purchase on Wednesday, May 10 at 10 a.m. Tickets are available for the general public beginning Friday, May 12 at 10 a.m. LL Cool J, first tour in 30 years, to stop in Chicago The 2003 album, which has sold more than 9,000,000 million copies in the United States, includes the hits 'In da Club,' '21 Questions,' 'P.I.M.P' and 'Many Men.' Rolling Stones ranked the album among their '500 Greatest Albums of All Time' list.Click here for ticket information and other tour dates.