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Judge rejects attempt to temporarily block Connecticut’s landmark gun law passed after Sandy Hook

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:40 GMT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday rejected a request to temporarily block Connecticut’s landmark 2013 gun control law, passed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, until a gun rights group’s lawsuit against the statute has concluded.U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven ruled the National Association for Gun Rights has not shown that the state’s ban on certain assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines, or LCMs, violates the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms or that such weapons are commonly bought and used for self-defense.Connecticut officials “have submitted persuasive evidence that assault weapons and LCMs are more often sought out for their militaristic characteristics than for self-defense, that these characteristics make the weapons disproportionately dangerous to the public based on their increased capacity for lethality, and that assault weapons and LCMs are more often used in crimes and mass shootings...

Justice Kagan supports ethics code but says Supreme Court divided on how to proceed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:40 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Justice Elena Kagan publicly declared her support for an ethics code for the U.S. Supreme Court but said there was no consensus among the justices on how to proceed, suggesting the high court is grappling with public concerns over its ethics practices.“It’s not a secret for me to say that we have been discussing this issue. And it won’t be a surprise to know that the nine of us have a variety of views about this,” she said Thursday at a judicial conference in Portland, Oregon.The Supreme Court is navigating a fraught moment in its history. It has come under growing scrutiny for its lack of an official code of conduct, and public trust in the body is at a 50-year low following a series of polarized rulings, including the overturning of Roe v. Wade and federal abortion protections last year.The Associated Press obtained thousands of pages of documents that show how justices spanning the court’s ideological divide have lent the prestige of their positions to parti...

Prosecutor wants to defend conviction of former Missouri detective who killed Black man

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:40 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A prosecutor is stepping in after Missouri’s attorney general asked an appeals court to reverse the conviction of a former Missouri police officer who is white and killed a Black man in 2019. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker this week asked the state Western District Court of Appeals to let her handle the appeal of former Kansas City police detective Eric DeValkenaere, who was convicted of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the November 2021 of killing 26-year-old Cameron Lamb. Lamb was shot as he backed his truck into his garage. Typically, Missouri’s attorney general handles all appeals of criminal cases. But Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey in June asked the appeals court to reverse DeValkenaere’s conviction, arguing that DeValkenaere was justified because he believed Lamb was going to shoot his partner.Peters Baker originally secured DeValkenaere’s conviction.The attorney general “accepts an al...

Big waves becoming more common off California as Earth warms, new research finds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:40 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Waves are getting bigger and surf at least 13 feet (about 4 meters) tall is becoming more common off California’s coast as the planet warms, according to innovative new research that tracked the increasing height from historical data gathered over the past 90 years.Oceanographer Peter Bromirski at Scripps Institution of Oceanography used the unusual method of analyzing seismic records dating back to 1931 to measure the change in wave height.When waves ricochet off the shore, they collide with incoming waves and cause a ripple of energy through the seafloor that can be picked up by seismographs designed to detect earthquakes. The greater the impact, the taller the wave is.Until now, scientists relied on a network of buoys by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that collect data on wave height along U.S. coasts, but that data along the California coast only went back to 1980.“Until I stumbled upon this data set, it was almost impossible to make that co...

Deadly shooting leaves 1 dead, 1 critical in South Shore

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:40 GMT

CHICAGO -- A 25-year-old gunman was shot and killed by a Walgreens security guard following an altercation in South Shore Thursday evening.According to the Chicago Fire Department, officers responded to a shooting near the intersection of 71st Street and Jeffery in the South Shore neighborhood just before 3 p.m. on Thursday. Man killed in shooting at Lansing gas station ID’d A 25-year-old man was killed and a 22-year-old was hospitalized in critical condition.Witnesses told WGN that the incident started with two men on the sidewalk, one of the men were selling some sort of merchandise, and fight broke out. The 25-year-old man pulled out a gun and shot the the 22-year-old. A security guard from the Walgreens nearby came out and fired shots at the 25-year-old gunman.The 22-year-old was transported to University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition.The 25-year-old gunman was also transported to University of Chicago Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead.The Wal...

Chicago's Funkytown Brewery earns a prestigious honor - and opportunity

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:40 GMT

CHICAGO — A brewery in Chicago that began with a mission to make good beer while also opening up doors in the industry is now getting some nationwide attention.Funkytown Brewery, which was started by Richard Bloomfield, Zachary Day, and Greg Williams in 2021, was named the winner of the Samuel Adams "Brewing The American Dream" Brewing and Business "experienceship" this past July.This will allow the Chicago-based brewer to get a behind-the-scenes look at a number of aspects of running a major brewery from one of the most successful craft beer producers in the country.Funkytown Brewery beat out five others, including Chicago's Azadi Brewing, to earn the honor. "Just having the opportunity to work under the wings of some of the greatest brewers and some of the greatest business minds is a surreal kind of opportunity, and it's still feels surreal at this moment," said Day of getting the "experienceship" at Samuel Adams.The trio will get the chance to work with the Boston-based brewer o...

No charges will be filed in Cardi B mic case, Las Vegas police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:40 GMT

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — No charges will be filed against rapper Cardi B after she threw a microphone into a crowd last weekend, reportedly injuring a person, Las Vegas Metro police said Thursday."After a thorough review of this case and with the consultation from the Clark County District Attorney’s Office, this case has been closed as having insufficient evidence," a spokesperson said in a statement. "No charges will be filed in relation to this case." Man falls into Columbus Zoo enclosure during cheetah presentation The woman who filed the police report told officers the object injured her shoulder, a report the 8 News Now Investigators obtained said.Video had circulated online after a TikTok user posted footage of the incident at Drai’s Beachclub on the Las Vegas Strip. Lizzo says she’s ‘not the villain’ after her former dancers claim sex harassment The clip shows the hip-hop performer onstage asking the audience to spray her with water when someone in the audience hurls liquid, ...

Man falls into Columbus Zoo enclosure during cheetah presentation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:40 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A man fell into an enclosure at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio Thursday afternoon.The zoo said at about noon, the man fell 12-15 feet off a protective handrail near the Watering Hole in the Heart of Africa section during a cheetah run presentation. He landed behind a safety barrier and was conscious when zoo safety teams reached him.Across the safety barrier was Adrienne, a 3.5-year-old female cheetah, who was with her trainer in the Watering Hole. The zoo said Adrienne "took notice" of the man but stayed with her trainer and was immediately secured. CVS robbery suspect caught fleeing through drive-by window At the beginning of the cheetah run presentation, a zoo employee noticed a teenager in a tree behind the safety barrier. It was after the employee asked the teen to get out of the tree that the man fell, according to the zoo.Liberty Township Fire Battalion Chief Brian Niemet said the man did not appear to have serious injuries or broken bones, b...

Top Texas A&M officials were involved in botched recruiting of journalism professor, who will receive $1 million settlement

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:40 GMT

AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) — Several high-level Texas A&M University System officials — including the board of regents and the flagship campus’ president — were involved in discussions about how to handle a Black journalism professor’s job offer after conservatives criticized her hiring, according to an internal report released Thursday.The details of the report contradict former Texas A&M University President M. Katherine Banks’ earlier claims that she was unaware that the school had watered down its offer to Kathleen McElroy after pushback to her hiring. Banks abruptly retired last month amid turmoil spurred by the botched hiring.The report also confirms the unusual involvement of system-level regents, who are gubernatorial appointees, in a university-level hire. And the report confirms that university leadership tried to delay the announcement of McElroy’s hiring until after this year’s legislative session ended.Texas A&M also confirmed Thursday that it would pay $1 milli...

Second wildfire in Bastrop County grows to 38 acres, 90% contained

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:40 GMT

BASTROP COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) -- The Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management is responding to a wildland fire located near Hellinger Road. The fire, named the Mesquite Field Fire, is separate from the 100-acre Powder Keg Pine Fire that broke out Tuesday. Powder Keg Pine Fire in Bastrop estimated at 117 acres, 80% contained Officials said the Mesquite Field Fire is currently estimated at roughly 38 acres and 90% contained, as of about noon Thursday. The Mesquite Field Fire has burned about 37 acres in Bastrop County and is 80% contained, according to officials. (KXAN photo/Jake Sykes)While this fire didn't cover as much ground as Tuesday's Powder Keg Pine Fire, it still gave people quite the scare Wednesday. "My neighbor called and said there was a fire out here," said Paul Todd, whose farmland is close to where the fire started. "So I came out here as quick as I could. My thought was to get out here and make sure everything was okay, and everybody's house, whatever I could do...