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Bomb threats lead to brief lockdowns and the evacuation of multiple state capitols

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:14:05 GMT

By REBECCA REYNOLDS (Associated Press)Multiple state capitols received bomb threats Wednesday morning that led to brief evacuations or lockdowns as police investigated, but no evidence of explosives was found. The warnings came after a spate of false reports of shootings at the homes of public officials in recent days.Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi and Montana were among the states that evacuated statehouse offices or buildings. Lawmakers in Kentucky and Mississippi have begun meeting in legislative sessions. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said on X, formerly Twitter, that the Capitol was evacuated while state police investigated a threat received by the Secretary of State’s Office. He said everyone was safe and officials were aware of similar threats made to other offices across the country. The threat was received as Kentucky lawmakers were meeting in the Capitol annex for ethics training.Public safety officials locked down the Mississippi Capit...

As a missile hits a Kyiv apartment building, survivors lose a lifetime’s possessions in seconds

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:14:05 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — With trembling hands and labored breath, Serhii Slobodiannyk meticulously searched his fire-damaged apartment, seeking to salvage any of his family’s treasured belongings following a Russian missile attack on Kyiv.“Everything I had worked for over 30 years was destroyed in less than a second,” says Slobodiannyk, still dressed in the clothes he managed to throw on in his burning apartment Tuesday.He and his wife, Olena, had moved into the building in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district in 1984. Now the structure is uninhabitable — ravaged by fire, part of its facade torn off, and a huge crater gouged next to it by the missile that struck at 7:40 a.m.Two of the building’s residents were killed and 54 were injured in Tuesday’s bombardment that also killed two others elsewhere in the capital. The barrage was part of Russia’s recent winter campaign against urban areas in the nearly 2-year-old war.It was the first attack in months in which an ap...

Toronto man arrested in suspected hate-motivated assault of security guard

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:14:05 GMT

A Toronto man has been arrested in a suspected hate-motivated assault involving a security guard last weekend.Police were called to the Sherbourne Street and Dundas Street area at around 3 p.m. on Dec. 30 for reports of an assault.It’s alleged that the suspect was loitering in a building when the victim, who was working as a security guard, asked him to exit the premises. Police said the suspect refused to leave, uttered racial slurs and assaulted the victim with a weapon. On Wednesday, authorities said 60-year-old Timothy Eaton of Toronto has been charged with two counts of uttering threats/death or bodily harm, assault with a weapon and weapons dangerous.Eaton was scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.

12 years after she vanished, divers believe they have found body of woman in submerged vehicle

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:14:05 GMT

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — The body of a woman who went missing 12 years ago appears to have been found in a minivan submerged in a central Florida retention pond near Walt Disney World, according to family members and volunteer divers who discovered the remains last week.The family of Sandra Lemire told local media on Tuesday that they believe that the remains found in the vehicle are the central Florida woman who vanished along with her car in 2012 after leaving a restaurant in Kissimmee, Florida.Divers with Sunshine State Sonar found the vehicle last Saturday while searching in a small retention pond at the Disney World exit on Interstate 4 in Kissimmee. The group of volunteer divers assists law enforcement in finding missing persons, vehicles or vessels believed to be in Florida waterways. They had been searching for Lemire in 63 bodies of water over the last year and a half.Last week, a tip from an Orlando Police Department detective about the location of a cellphone tower that las...

Mexican cartel forces locals to pay for makeshift Wi-Fi under threat of death

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:14:05 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A cartel in the embattled central Mexico state of Michoacan set up its own makeshift internet antennas and told locals they had to pay to use its Wi-Fi service or they would be killed, state prosecutors said Wednesday. Dubbed “narco-antennas” by local media, the cartel’s system involved internet antennas set up in various towns built with stolen equipment. The group charged approximately 5,000 people elevated prices between between 400 and 500 pesos ($25 to $30) a month, the Michoacán state prosecutor’s office told The Associated Press. That meant the group could rake in around $150,000 a month.People were terrorized “to contract the internet services at excessive costs, under the claim that they would be killed if they did not,” prosecutors said, though they didn’t report any such deaths.Local media identified the criminal group as the Los Viagras cartel. Prosecutors declined to say which cartel was involved because the case was still under inve...

Judge recommends ending suit on prosecuting ex-felons who vote in North Carolina, cites new law

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:14:05 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina law that makes it a serious crime for someone to vote while still on probation or parole for a felony conviction shouldn’t be thrown out, especially with a change to the law that took effect this week, a federal judge has ruled.U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe Webster on Tuesday issued an order recommending to deny a request by lawyers for groups representing poor residents and Black union members to invalidate what they called the “strict liability” law. The law was first challenged in part on racial bias claims over three years ago, with those who sued hoping to get it addressed in time for the 2020 elections. But following a series of legal hurdles, Webster’s ruling came just weeks before absentee voting begins for this year’s primary elections in the nation’s ninth-largest state for contests like president, governor and attorney general.The groups who sued state election officials can formally object to Webster’s recommendation to...

Lisa Batstone, B.C. mother who murdered daughter, 8, dies in prison

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:14:05 GMT

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. — A British Columbia woman who was convicted of murdering her eight-year-old daughter has been found dead in prison.Correctional Service Canada says Lisa Batstone, who was serving an indeterminate life sentence for suffocating her sleeping child with a plastic bag in 2014, died in custody on Monday.It says Batstone, who began her sentence in 2019, died in the Fraser Valley Institution and her next of kin have been notified.The correctional service says it will inform police and the coroner, and will review the circumstances of Batstone’s death.Batstone lost an appeal against her conviction for the second-degree murder of her daughter Teagan Batstone in 2022.The Appeal Court ruling says Batstone never came to terms with her marital breakdown from Teagan’s father, and intended to commit suicide and did not want to leave her daughter with him.She was sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of at least 15 years, a sentence upheld on appeal.This ...

The AP goes behind the scenes at PWHL opener to capture ‘the birth of women’s hockey’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:14:05 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — An hour before one of the most significant faceoffs in the history of women’s hockey, New York players were roused by a commotion at the entrance of their dressing room. Enter Billie Jean King.“I just wanted to say, hi,” the former tennis star and gender equality champion said, before apologizing for interrupting.Wearing a purple blazer, the color adopted by the Professional Women’s Hockey League which King helped launch, she proceeded to congratulate players for achieving their dream, and reflected on similar pivotal moments in women’s sports.“Today, I think, is really the birth of women’s hockey. This is the moment,” King said. “It’s special. Thank you for playing. Thank you so much.”King made a similar stop in the Toronto room, where she announced the team’s starting lineup ahead of the six-team PWHL’s opening game Monday.It was a moment generations in the making after previous leagues failed because of funding, vision and infrastructure issues. This solution...

New Illinois law expands unpaid leave for grieving parents

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:14:05 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Parents in Illinois who lose a child to suicide or homicide can not take protected, unpaid time off from while to mourn.A new state law expanding unpaid leave for grieving family members took effect Monday.The amount of time parents can take depends on the size of their workplace, and they do not have to the take the time off all at once. Here’s a list of new Illinois laws going into effect in 2024 Laura Kane worked to pass the 'Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act' in memory of her 14-year-old son Zachary, who died by suicide in 2018. At the time, she was on a probationary period at work and ended up losing her job.

The new 'Mean Girls' is a musical — and people are surprised

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:14:05 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — The latest incarnation of "Mean Girls," the now-iconic 2004 teen comedy, finally hits theaters next week, and based on its trailers, the film promises "a new twist" on the story. But so far, the film's marketing hasn't explicitly shown what that means.On Wednesday, the film's final trailer was released and while it gives slightly more of a hint, there's still some obfuscation around the fact that "Mean Girls" (2024) is a musical. If that's shocking to you, you're not alone. How to turn off Facebook’s latest way to track you "What's the point of remaking 'Mean Girls'? .... This advert doesn't make it seem like it's being changed in any serious way," one user opined on X, formerly Twitter, in early November. He quickly learned the answer as more and more people responded with the news."OK, turns out there is an answer to this. It's a musical now — which for some reason the advert makes completely opaque?" he said in a follow-up. "I don't understand what went into this de...