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

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:12:12 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. The teacher contacted the school’s principal, who called the girl’s family, Chicago police and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, prosecutors said. When the girl’s father, the principal and the school’s ...

Haiti gang leader vows to fight any foreign armed force if it commits abuses

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:12:12 GMT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — An ex-police officer considered by many to be Haiti’s most powerful gang leader warned Wednesday that he would fight any international armed force deployed to the Caribbean country if it commited any abuses.Jimmy Chérizier, best known as “Barbecue,” also urged Haitians to mobilize against the government. “We are asking the population to rise up,” he said at a news conference.Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has led Haiti since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, has been pushing for the deployment of a foreign armed force since October to help fight powerful gangs that are estimated to now control 80% of the capital of Port-au-Prince.In late July, the African nation of Kenya offered to lead a multinational force, and the U.S. said earlier this month that it would put forward a resolution in the U.N. Security Council to authorize a non-U.N. multinational mission.Chérizier said he would welcome a foreign force if it were to arrest the pr...

North Carolina lawmakers override veto on bill limiting LGBTQ+ instruction in early grades

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:12:12 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s Senate and House voted minutes apart Wednesday to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of a bill limiting LGBTQ+ instruction in the early grades, immediately making it law.The law, which is expected to face a legal challenge, requires public school teachers in most circumstances to alert parents before they call a student by a different name or pronoun. It also bans instruction about gender identity and sexuality in K-4 classrooms, which critics have previously likened to a Florida law opponents call “Don’t Say Gay.” The Senate voted 27-18 for the override, followed swiftly by a 72-47 decisive House vote. That came on an afternoon of intense activity in the state’s General Assembly.Both chambers also voted to override Cooper’s veto of another bill banning transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams from middle and high school through college. That bill also immediately became law.Earlier, a GOP supermajority in the North Carolin...

Common arthritis drug could boost effectiveness of morning-after pill, study finds

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:12:12 GMT

LONDON (AP) — EMBARGOED UNTIL 22:30 GMT/18:30 ET WEDNESDAYTaking a common arthritis drug together with the morning-after pill Plan B could boost the contraceptive’s effectiveness, according to new research published Wednesday.Levonorgestrel, often called Plan B, is the most widely available type of emergency contraception. It works by preventing or delaying ovulation. Scientists estimate that it is about 95% effective when taken within a day after unprotected sex, dropping to 58% or lower within three days. The new study, published by the medical journal Lancet, suggests levonorgestrel can remain highly effective up to three days after unprotected sex when it is taken with piroxicam, an anti-inflammatory pain medication typically prescribed for arthritis.“It’s really exciting and very timely that we could have a more effective emergency contraceptive option,” said Kelly Cleland, executive director for the American Society for Emergency Contraception, who was not part of the La...

B.C. changes policy on dispute with U.S. on selenium contamination from coal mines

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:12:12 GMT

The British Columbia government has changed its tune on a long-requested investigation into contamination from its mines flowing into U.S. waters, opening the door to progress on an issue that has drawn the attention of President Joe Biden. The province has confirmed to The Canadian Press that it would now welcome a role in such an investigation for the International Joint Commission, a body created in 1909 to resolve water-related disputes between the two countries. “B.C. has proposed a role for the International Joint Commission to act as a neutral third party — bringing representatives together to share progress, validate issues and facts, and gather information in a way that is respectful and inclusive of Indigenous knowledge,” B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman said in an email. “The Government of Canada is considering our proposal.”It’s a significant move from the province, which has long struggled with how to mitigate selenium contamination ...

Arkansas school district says it will continue offering AP African American Studies course

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:12:12 GMT

LITTLE ROCK, Ar (AP) — The Little Rock School District said Wednesday it will continue offering an Advanced Placement course on African American studies despite Arkansas education officials saying the class won’t count toward a student’s graduation credit.The 21,200-student district announced the decision days after the Arkansas Department of Education said the course would not count toward state credit. Education officials have told schools the course couldn’t be part of the state’s advanced placement course offerings because it’s still a pilot program and hasn’t been vetted by the state yet. The department cited a state law enacted this year that places restrictions on how race is taught in school, but it did not say the course violates those prohibitions.Little Rock Central High School, site of the historic 1957 racial desegregation crisis, was one of six schools in the state that were slated to offer the course this year.“We are fortunate to have one of the foremost ...

Skilling: Possible showers, thunderstorms Wednesday night around Chicagoland

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:12:12 GMT

IT'S BEEN A GORGEOUS WEDNESDAY with 100% of the day's possible sunshine and winds a fraction of the 25 to 40 mph gusts (highest at the lakeshore and out over Lake Michigan) which blew across Chicago Tuesday stirring waves and rip currents along Lake Michigan and on Chicago's beaches.  Wednesday Chicago weather couldn't have been more different with flocks of weekday beachgoers enjoying a quiet  lake free of the 4 to 6 ft. waves which crashed on Chicago shores Tuesday.The day's SOUTHWEST winds overcame lake cooling—so it was warm right up to the lakeshore! Peak wind wind gusts Wednesday reached 17 mph at O'Hare and 18 mph at Midway Airport.Interestingly, veteran NWS Chicago weather observer Frank Wachowski informs us the last time a day produced 100% of its possible sun was back on July 10.9 of the past 12 days have produced temps AT or BELOW NORMAL—but only marginally so.  August is currently a veritable statistical "wash"--in other words, virtually normal w...

Group of migrants create pop up barber shop until work permits granted

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:12:12 GMT

CHICAGO -- Migrants arriving in Chicago are using their passions to make some money while they wait for their work permits to be approved.On Wednesday, a group of migrants were busy at work at Pritzker Park next to the Harold Washington Library as they cut hair at their pop up barber shop.Colombian migrant Dylan Rodriquez arrived in Chicago just over a week ago. After meeting a group of barbers, they began to cut hair on the street for new arrivals and people passing for $20. Even offering free cuts to those customers who don't have money.Rodriquez started cutting hair at 15-years-old and even has tattoos on his arm portraying his love for the profession.Most of these men Rodriquez works with were professional barbers in their home countries and have been cutting hair in Chicago for about two months. Typically, they see about 15 to 20 clients each day.Nearly 12,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Chicago since last summer. Most of the Loop barbers stay at a city shelter nearby and ar...

Illinois will provide burial for migrant toddler who died on bus

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:12:12 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois will provide for Thursday's funeral and burial for the migrant toddler who died last week on a bus headed to Chicago from Texas, officials said.Jismary Alejandra Barboza González, who would have turned 4 next week, died Aug. 10 while on a chartered bus, part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's program begun last year of sending migrants crossing into the state to Democratic-led cities across the country. Rachel Otwell, spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Human Services, confirmed the girl's name and said the Illinois Welcoming Center, a partially state-funded program, will cover burial costs for Jismary. The child's great aunt, Gisela Gonzalez, said the family set out for the United States in May from their home in Colombia, where Jismary was born.The funeral service for the girl is scheduled for Thursday at a church in Warsaw, Indiana.Welcoming centers offer comprehensive services for migrants. But Otwell said the family has not requested other hel...

Disneyland's attendance and visitor spending gains undermined by inflation, report says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:12:12 GMT

(KTLA) – The “Happiest Place on Earth” recently saw an increase in attendance and guest spending, thanks mainly to higher ticket prices, but these gains were impacted by inflation, according to the latest Disney quarterly report.Analysts found that higher attendance and visitor spending at the Disneyland Resort were largely offset by higher costs driven by inflation, the report said. New water play area to open at Disneyland Resort Ticket prices to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure increased by 8% in October 2022.  The price of a one-day, one-park ticket now ranges between $104 to $179, while one-day Park Hopper tickets cost $244 per day.The cost of an annual pass, known as Magic Keys, also increased last year. The resort previously told media outlets that Magic Key prices increased by 16% across the four different Magic Key types last year. Regardless of the increased admission prices, guests still flocked to the Disneyland Resort to celebrate Disney 100, a celebration f...