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A sex trafficking case, a plea deal and a mother’s pain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:25 GMT

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Irma Reyes changed clothes in the back seat of the pickup: skirt, tights, turtleneck, leather jacket. All black. She brushed her hair and pulled on heels as her husband drove their Chevy through predawn darkness toward a courthouse hundreds of miles from home.She wanted to look confident — poised but hellbent. The outfit was meant to let Texas prosecutors know just what kind of formidable mother they’d be crossing that morning.Weeks earlier, Reyes learned about the plea deal. State lawyers planned to let the two men charged with sex trafficking her daughter walk free.She’d barely been able to eat or brush her teeth since, her mind racing: Why are they doing this? Can I get the judge to stop it? Don’t they know my daughter matters?Reyes’ daughter was 16 in 2017, when men she knew only as “Rocky” and “Blue” kept her and another girl at a San Antonio motel where men paid to have sex with them. Now, the cases against Rakim Sharkey and Elijah Teel — the men polic...

Polish coal miners protest EU methane reduction regulations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:25 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish coal miners angered by a European Union directive aiming to reduce methane emissions protested noisily Friday before the EU office in Warsaw saying it will deprive them of their jobs. Some 300 miners chanted “Thieves” and used smoke flares and sirens to draw attention to their protest in the downtown area of Poland’s capital. Traffic was temporarily closed in the area. Protesting miners from the Solidarity 80 union said recent climate recommendations for the 27-member EU that call for a significant reduction of methane, starting in 2027, would force most of the nation’s mines to close, with the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.The majority of Poland’s mines have a high presence of methane gas that gets released in the coal extraction process. That also leads to serious mining accidents as methane becomes explosive when mixed in low proportions with oxygen. Located in the southern Silesia region, the coal mines are among Poland’s major employ...

Supreme Court ruling clears air on random breathalyzers on private property: CCLA

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:25 GMT

A video showing Barrie police arriving at a home and ordering a man to provide a breath sample last weekend raised a slew of questions about individual rights and just how much authority police can actually wield when it comes to making such intrusive demands.In that case, police were acting on a call from a concerned citizen who suspected impaired driving after seeing a vehicle swerving in and out of traffic. That call seemingly gave police the wiggle room to seek the breath test.In 2018, new tougher impaired driving laws went into effect across the country that give police wider scope to demand breath tests — in some cases, up to two hours after a person has been driving.But some feared police could begin arbitrarily demanding such tests at homes and private properties across the country.A Supreme Court ruling on Thursday has now made it clear that police do not have the authority to do so.“The Supreme Court of Canada has confirmed police do not have the authority to conduct...

Toronto opted for speed over people in clearing encampments last summer: Ombudsman

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:25 GMT

A final report by Toronto’s Ombudsman says the City showed “significant unfairness” when it set about to clear several encampments in the summer of 2021.Ombudsman Kwame Addo says while many City staff care about people experiencing homelessness, the City chose speed over people and failed to live up to its stated commitments to fairness and a human rights-based approach to housing.“Encampments and supporting the people living in them are complex,” Addo says in his final report released Friday. “But the City owes a particularly high duty of fairness to these residents.”Homeless encampments began popping up across Toronto in March 2020 as hundreds fled shelters for fear of contracting COVID-19.By late 2020, there were more than 50 encampments across Toronto, documents obtained by activists through freedom-of-information laws, showed.The City, along with police officers, cleared out encampments at multiple parks in July 2021 including at Lampor...

Trump lawyer in court after being forced before grand jury

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A lawyer for Donald Trump was back in court Friday after being ordered to answer questions before a grand jury investigating the possible mishandling of classified documents at the former president’s Florida estate.M. Evan Corcoran entered federal court in the District of Columbia early Friday morning, one week after a federal judge ruled in favor of the Justice Department in forcing Corcoran to answer additional questions before a grand jury that has been hearing testimony for months. He did not make any comments as he arrived at the building.The interest by prosecutors in Corcoran’s testimony underscores the legal peril confronting Trump, making clear the department’s continued focus on whether Trump obstructed government efforts to recover hundreds of classified documents taken from the White House to Mar-a-Lago at the end of his term. A search warrant affidavit released last August showed that investigators were examining potential violations ...

Kentucky governor vetoes sweeping GOP transgender measure

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:25 GMT

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s Democratic governor issued an election-year veto Friday of a Republican bill aimed at regulating the lives of transgender youths that includes banning access to gender-affirming health care and restricting the bathrooms they can use.The bill also bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools and allows teachers to refuse to refer to transgender students by the pronouns they use. It easily passed the GOP-led legislature with veto-proof margins, and lawmakers will reconvene next week for the final two days of this year’s session, when they could vote to override the veto. Gov. Andy Beshear said in a written veto message that the bill allows “too much government interference in personal healthcare issues and rips away the freedom of parents to make medial decisions for their children.”In his message, he warned that the bill’s repercussions would include an increase in youth suicides. The governor said, “My faith ...

Man bit off part of Las Vegas police officer's ear during bus standoff, documents say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:25 GMT

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – A man accused of barricading himself inside a bus on Monday reportedly bit off part of a Las Vegas officer's ear as police attempted to take him into custody, documents said.Allyn McFarland, 29, faces several charges including battery, mistreatment of a police animal and mayhem, records showed.Bus driver and officers injured on Blue Diamond and Durango Drive on March 20, 2023 Bus driver and officers injured on Blue Diamond and Durango Drive on March 20, 2023 Bus driver and officers injured on Blue Diamond and Durango Drive on March 20, 2023 Bus driver and officers injured on Blue Diamond and Durango Drive on March 20, 2023 Bus driver and officers injured on Blue Diamond and Durango Drive on March 20, 2023 (KLAS photos)On Monday, March 20, around 6:45 p.m., police received a call about a man refusing to exit the bus. Nearly half of parents with adult children still pay their bills The caller, a private security officer, said the man, later identified as McFarlan...

Philadelphia may pay pregnant women some $1,000 per month

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:25 GMT

(NewsNation) — The Philadelphia Department of Public Health is reportedly raising money to give $1,000 monthly payments to some expectant mothers living in certain areas of the city.The health department plans to make this possible for approximately 250 pregnant Philadelphians through the Philly Joy Bank, with the goal of reducing racial disparities in birth outcomes.The payments are “no-strings-attached,” according to a news release.Of the top 10 most populated cities across the country, Philadelphia has the highest rate of infant mortality, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health says, and Black infants in the city are more than four times more likely to die before their first birthday than white infants. Bagels & drug testing: Moms file complaint against hospitals “Infant mortality in Philadelphia is a solvable crisis,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole. “We know that being able to better support pregnant people and new parents helps keep babies alive. As t...

Highest-rated Mexican restaurants in Chicago, according to Tripadvisor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:25 GMT

Mexican fare ranks second among Americans' favorite global cuisines, according to Chef's Pencil. Mexican flavors and ingredients have permeated all corners of American cuisine, infusing vibrant and varied tastes into Americans' daily diet. But while tacos and enchiladas may seem commonplace in America now, that wasn't always the case.To be sure, Americans have been influenced by the flavors of our neighbor to the south for hundreds of years. But it wasn't until refugees from southern and central Mexico brought their culinary traditions north to the U.S. during the Mexican Revolution that dishes like tacos found their way into the mainstream. An increasingly global culture (and a growing number of Mexican fast-food mainstays and high-end restaurants) have cemented Mexican food's beloved role in U.S. cuisine. Which begs the question: Where does one go for the best Mexican food in Chicago?To find out, Stacker turned to Tripadvisor to compile a list of the highest-rated Mexica...

Chicago to debut first commercial electric air taxi route

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:25 GMT

CHICAGO (NewsNation) — Chicagoans may soon be able to fly over airport traffic on their way downtown.In two years, Chicago will become the debut city for the first commercial electric air taxi route, according to a joint press release by Archer Aviation Inc. and United Airlines.Archer and United announced plans to launch the commercial electric air taxi service on Thursday, saying they chose Chicago because it "is the third most populous city in the United States, a center for business, innovation and investment, and home to United’s headquarters. This makes it a unique city for Archer and United to build out." Utah social media law means kids need approval from parents Archer’s electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft will commute from O'Hare International Airpot to Vertiport Chicago, the largest vertical aircraft take-off and landing facility in North America, located in the Illinois Medical District near the Chicago Loop, the press release said. The vehicle is pow...