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Woman charged with murder in case of Kansas officer killed in shootout with car chase suspect

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:06 GMT

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — A Tennessee woman was charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday in connection with the killing of a police officer in suburban Kansas City after a car chase ended in a shootout that also killed the fleeing vehicle’s driver.Andrea Rene Cothran, 32, Goodlettsville, was already charged with crimes stemming from the Aug. 6 police chase, the Johnson County prosecutor’s office said in a statement. Those include aggravated battery, fleeing law enforcement, felony theft and reckless driving. The earlier charges all pertain to the police chase, Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe told the Kansas City Star earlier this month. He said the battery charge is related to the start of the chase, using the vehicle as a deadly weapon.Her bond was set at $1 million. Fairway police Officer Jonah Oswald, 29, had been on the force for four years. He was hospitalized in critical condition and died a few days later. He leaves behind a wife and two young children...

Patrick Hamilton, ex-AP and Reuters photographer who covered Central American wars, dies at 74

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:06 GMT

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) — Patrick Hamilton, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War who covered civil wars in Central America as a photojournalist for The Associated Press and later worked at Reuters covering the first Gulf War in Iraq, has died after a long struggle with cancer. He died at age 74 Sunday at home in San Antonio. Hamilton’s experience in Vietnam served him well in Central America during the 1980s and then with Reuters, for which he covered Operation Desert Storm in 1990.Colleagues remembered him as a gentle professional who was cool under pressure and as someone they wanted at their side in conflict zones like El Salvador and Nicaragua.“When I drove around in a war zone in northern Nicaragua with a guy like Hamilton sitting shotgun, I had a sense of security that I did not enjoy if riding around with some everyday John Doe,” photojournalist and author Bill Gentile wrote in his memoir, “Wait for Me.”“Pat had seen war as a Marine combatant in Vietnam and those experie...

Chicago sends food, supplies to Maui in support of wildfire relief

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:06 GMT

CHICAGO — Food and other critical supplies are headed from the Chicago area to Hawaii to help those affected by the wildfires in Maui.Special cargo was loaded Wednesday for a United Airlines flight at O’Hare International Airport, which included 24,000 pounds of packages of various much-needed supplies, such as baby formula and toiletries.The donation stemmed from a request from Kings Catherdral Church in Hawaii. Maui fire death toll reaches 106 as first two victims identified "It's just the start for us," said Omar Idris, the vice president of United Airlines at O'Hare. "Happy to support everything we can to a very special place for us."Idris told WGN News the company has also helped transport more than 12,000 people back to the US mainland since the tragedy struck. "We’ve also done everything we can to keep fares minimum so people can get off the island if needed," Idris said.  Raising Cane’s donating 15% of profits Thursday for Maui relief Various efforts remain underway acro...

Chicago man sentenced to 11 years for sexual assault of girl during remote-learning class

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:06 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — A judge Wednesday sentenced a Chicago man to 11 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 7-year-old female relative in an act witnessed in an online forum used for remote teaching.Catrell Walls, 21, pleaded guilty to a felony sexual assault charge for the Oct. 15, 2020, attack. As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors dropped two other felony counts and an unrelated weapons case, the Chicago Tribune reported.The assault took place at a home from which the girl was participating in class remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, prosecutors said. During a break, the teacher asked students to mute themselves and turn off their cameras. The girl muted herself but she did not turn off the camera, and the teacher witnessed the assault, prosecutors said. PREVIOUS: 18-year-old admits to sexually assaulting 7-year-old Chicago girl during e-learning The teacher contacted the school’s principal, who called the girl’s family, Chicago police and the Illinois D...

Crane High School hosts CPS Back-To-School Bash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:06 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago Public School students stocked up on school supplies at Crane High School's back-to-school bash Wednesday afternoon."One of the best schools in the city of Chicago," said Ald. Walter Barnett (27th), on Crane High School. "Where they teach medical practices in this school."While local politicians touted the the school's curriculum, it was also a chance for those in attendance to say goodbye to the summer with a bang. At the celebation, there was dancing, bounce houses, goodies and plenty of other fun activities, all the make the transition back to school on Aug. 21 a little bit easier.Also at the back-to-school bash, Mayor Brandon Johnson, who handed out backpacks with the help of CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. In between handing out school supplies, Johnson spent time reiterating that students should have all the tools they need to have a safe and healthy learning environment."No matter who you are—Black, brown, white, no matter what zip code you're in," Johnson said. "Yo...

New Jersey Supreme Court backs school that fired teacher over premarital sex

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:06 GMT

(The Hill) - The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled this week in favor of a Roman Catholic school in a case involving employment discrimination allegations from an unmarried employee who was terminated after she became pregnant. Victoria Crisitello filed a complaint against the St. Theresa School alleging discrimination based on pregnancy and marital status. The school claimed, however, that the termination was because Crisitello, in having premarital sex, violated the terms of her employment agreement, which stipulated that employees must abide by the teachings of the Catholic Church. In its decision on Monday, the state Supreme Court held that St. Theresa School validly asserted the “religious tenets” exception as an affirmative defense, which allows religious entities to make hiring decisions based on criteria established using tenets of their faith, and therefore did not violate New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination. “The religious tenets exception allowed St. There...

For Happ, vision of Wrigley Field comes to life through partnership with artist

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:06 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Not long after Ian Happ got called up to the majors in 2017 by the Chicago Cubs, a boyhood dream realized with a storied franchise coming off a historic championship run, he was looking for pictures to hang in his apartment.From that simple desire came a vivid vision and one unlikely partnership with an English artist who made it come to life. Happ wanted to show Wrigley Field from a different viewpoint.“I had this experience over and over with bringing people down on the field,” he said. “They’d been to 20, 50, 100 games at Wrigley, but never been on the field. And everybody would have the same experience of looking back up just in awe from seeing it from from down low. And I thought that was such a cool experience that if I could bring that to more Cubs fans, more people, it would make the project really special.”Happ's view of Wrigley Field is on display at a Chicago art gallery — also where he got engaged last year — for a few more weeks as part of a series of dra...

52 arrests made statewide since Texas 'street takeover' task force began

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:06 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- As the Austin Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety continue to investigate a July "street takeover" event that landed three people in the hospital, KXAN has learned more about the scope of these investigations across the state. In February, DPS - in conjunction with several local agencies - launched the Street Takeover Task Force, following a takeover event that resulted in dozens of criminal charges. Operation Burnout: 17 more charged in February ‘street takeover’ investigation On the weekend of Feb. 18, cars doing donuts and driving recklessly blocked off the intersection of South Lamar Boulevard and Barton Springs Road. Austin Police said it was investigating several street takeover incidents from the night of Feb. 18, 2023. (Screenshot from video courtesy of S. Joseph) The latest similar event occurred on July 29. That night, troopers assisted APD with a call around 9:30 p.m. for about 100 vehicles in the parking lot of the Target at 86...

Central Texas housing market continues cooling trend in latest ABoR report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:06 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Central Texas housing market has continued its cooling trend, according to the new report from the Austin Board of Realtors.The report said the median family income in the area was $122,000, which would mean buyers could generally afford a home between $300,000 to $400,000.However, less than 40% of homes sold in the Austin-Round Rock area in July fell into that price range.According to the July report, the City of Austin’s current median price for a home was $550,000, which was down 12% compared to last year.

An appeals court backs some abortion drug limits, pending the Supreme Court's approval

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:06 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Mail-order access to a drug used in the most common form of abortion in the U.S. would end under a federal appeals court ruling issued Wednesday that cannot take effect until the Supreme Court weighs in.The decision by three judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned part of a lower court ruling that would have revoked the Food and Drug Administration’s 23-year-old approval of mifepristone. But it left intact part of the ruling that would end the availability of the drug by mail, allow it to be used through only the seventh week of pregnancy rather than the 10th, and require that it be administered in the presence of a physician. Those restrictions won’t take effect right away because the Supreme Court previously intervened to keep the drug available during the legal fight. The panel’s ruling would reverse changes the FDA made in 2016 and 2021 that eased some conditions for administering the drug.“In loosening mifepristone’s safety r...