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NRA convention draws top GOP 2024 hopefuls after shootings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:57 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Last year it was Uvalde. Now it’s Nashville and Louisville. For the second year in a row, the National Rifle Association is holding its annual convention within days of mass shootings that shook the nation. The three-day gathering kicked off Friday with thousands of the organization’s most active members at Indianapolis’ convention center attracting a bevy of top Republican presidential candidates — enough that it could help shape the early part of next year’s GOP primary race.It illustrates the stark reality that such shootings have become enough of the fabric of American life that the NRA can no longer schedule around them. Nor does it really want to: The convention falls on the second anniversary of the mass shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis that killed nine people.In brief remarks, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre didn’t mention the recent mass shootings.“Gun-hating politicians should never go to bed unafraid of what this association and all of our mil...

What’s next for sale of NFL’s Washington Commanders?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:57 GMT

Dan Snyder has an agreement in principle to sell the Washington Commanders to a group led by Josh Harris and Mitchell Rales that includes Magic Johnson for a North American professional sports team record $6.05 billion.It’s the biggest step yet in the process of Snyder selling the storied NFL franchise he has owned since 1999. But it’s far from the last one before the group assumes control.WHAT HAPPENS NOW?Currently, there’s a fully financed, nonexclusive agreement in place, but it has not yet been signed by the buying and selling parties. They’ll work out the fine print with lawyers and execute a binding agreement to complete the sale process at the team level.The league then gets involved for a thorough vetting process, including background checks and an evaluation by the finance committee. Once everything checks out, it goes to the owners for a vote, with three-quarters (24 of 32) needed to approve the sale and make it official.That could happen as soon as...

Capitol rioter who crushed officer with shield gets 7 years

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man who used a stolen riot shield to crush a police officer in a doorframe during the U.S. Capitol insurrection was sentenced on Friday to more than seven years in prison for his role in one of the most violent episodes of the Jan. 6 attack.Federal prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of 15 years and eight months for Patrick McCaughey III, which would have been the longest sentence for a Capitol riot case by more than five years. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden sentenced McCaughey to seven years and six months in prison followed by two years of supervised release. The judge described McCaughey, 25, as a “poster child of all that was dangerous and appalling about” the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.“Your actions are some of the most egregious crimes that were committed on that dark day,” the judge told McCaughey.McCaughey, of Ridgefield, Connecticut, expressed shame for joining the mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters who “violated” the Capitol. ...

A look at the bargaining demands ahead of potential strike by federal civil servants

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:57 GMT

OTTAWA — More than 120,000 federal public servants voted in favour of a countrywide strike mandate this week — and their union has made clear that wages are top of mind as it mulls whether to launch the potential job action. Another 35,000 from the Canada Revenue Agency voted for a strike mandate last week.The Public Service Alliance of Canada and the federal government have been at the bargaining table since June 2021. After a protracted impasse, during which both parties filed labour complaints against each other, the two began mediated negotiations early this month. The union’s demands have shifted over time, and neither party says it is willing to discuss the details of the ongoing negotiations publicly. It is also a standard bargaining tactic for parties to ask for more, or offer less, than they are expecting in the completed agreement.But a brief to the Public Interest Commission last November sheds light on what the union was asking for at that time. Here are some of th...

Papal official rejects new claims in ‘Vatican Girl’ mystery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:57 GMT

ROME (AP) — The Vatican pushed back hard Friday at “slanderous” insinuations against St. John Paul II that were aired following the reopening of an investigation into the 1983 disappearance of the teenage daughter of a Vatican employee.The kerfuffle erupted after Emanuela Orlandi’s brother, Pietro, spent eight hours meeting Tuesday with Vatican prosecutors, who earlier this year reopened the dormant investigation into Emanuela’s disappearance. The Vatican probe has coincided with the recent decision by Italy’s parliament to open a parliamentary commission of inquest into the case, giving the Orlandi family hope that the truth might finally emerge.Emanuela Orlandi, 15, vanished June 22, 1983, after leaving her family’s Vatican City apartment to go to a music lesson in Rome. Her father was a lay employee of the Holy See.Her disappearance has been one of the Vatican’s enduring mysteries, and over the years has been linked to everything from the plot to kill John Paul, a financial scand...

Former B.C. paramedic gives advice on the 7th anniversary of the overdose crisis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:57 GMT

VANCOUVER — A former Vancouver paramedic with decades of experience says he has watched as illicit drugs have become more toxic, requiring more effort and more overdose-reversing medication to save people’s lives.Brian Twaites’ comments come on the seventh anniversary of British Columbia’s declaration of the public health emergency for the overdose crisis. Twaites worked for 36 years, mostly in the city’s Downtown Eastside, and says drug users need to stop using alone and should also ensure they’re not all using the same drug at the same time so someone can call for help. B.C. was the first jurisdiction in Canada to declare a public health emergency over increasing overdoses on April 14, 2016, after overdose deaths reached 474 in 2015.Last year, the toxic drug supply claimed nearly 2,300 lives in the province.Premier David Eby, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jennifer Whtiteside and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry say in a joint stat...

Financial system has to adjust to higher interest rates, Macklem says.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:57 GMT

OTTAWA — Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says the financial system has to adjust to higher interest rates, just like the rest of the economy. Macklem addressed the recent banking stress that was set off in the U.S. last month while speaking to reporters today from the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington, D.C. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, followed by other financial institutions, has raised concerns about the implications of rapid interest rate hiking on financial stability.Macklem says the financial system will have to adjust to higher interest rates, noting central banks are “resolved in getting inflation back to their inflation targets.”The governor says adjusting to higher interest rates can be hard for the financial system, just as it can be difficult for Canadians and businesses.Macklem says he disagrees with the idea that price stability and financial stability are at odds with each other and says achieving both is criti...

Funeral services held for Chicago firefighter Jermaine Pelt

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:57 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago firefighter Jermaine Pelt was laid to rest Friday following funeral services on the city's Far South Side.Pelt's funeral came nearly 24 hours after the department, along with family and friends, said goodbye to Lieutenant Jan Tchoryk, another firefighter who died in the line-of-duty.Words used to describe Pelt included selflessness, bravery and heroism.Pelt died April 4 while battling a fire in the city's West Pullman neighborhood. He was on a hose line inside a burning home, when he went down. His cause of death was smoke inhalation. Pelt joined the department in 2005 and had just recently walked his daughter down the aisle at her wedding.The 49-year-old also had a 6-year-old son. Funeral services held Thursday for fallen CFD Lt. Jan Tchoryk Pelt's visitation Thursday night at the Blake-Lamb Funeral Home came just hours after the funeral for Lt. Tchoryk, who collapsed and died in a high-rise fire in the city's Gold Coast.Pelt not only fought fires, but taught th...

Driver dies after falling out of Jeep, being struck by 2 vehicles on Dan Ryan Expressway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:57 GMT

CHICAGO — A person died after falling out of a Jeep and being struck by two vehicles on the Dan Ryan Expressway, according to Illinois State Police.State troopers responded to southbound I-94 at 28th Street around 5 a.m. Friday for a report of a person laying on the roadway.ISP police say for unknown reasons, the driver of a Jeep Wrangler fell out of the vehicle and onto the expressway. Two vehicles then struck the person, one vehicle fled the scene. 1 dead in Northwest Indiana house fire The driverless Jeep then ran off the roadway and struck a concrete median barrier, according to ISP.The person was pronounced dead on the scene. Their identity has not yet been released.No further information has been provided at this time.

Chicago couple accused of strangling man to death after luring him out of restaurant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:57 GMT

CHICAGO — A Chicago couple has been charged after allegedly luring a man out of a restaurant nearly two years ago and then strangling him to death.At around 2:30 a.m. on July 11, 2021, the Cook County Sheriff's Office was dispatched to the area of Central Avenue and 177th Street, located in unincorporated Bremen Township, on the report of an unresponsive man.The man, later identified as Agustin Guinac Chaj, 31, of Chicago, was unclothed from the waist down and pronounced dead at the scene.Following an investigation, detectives learned Chaj was at the same Chicago restaurant as Alberto Luces, 45, and Yessenia Bradford, 50, both of Chicago. Police said Chaj did not know the couple. Northwestern criticizes its own response to deadly shooting steps from campus At some point, police allege Luces and Bradford lured Chaj to their van where he was beaten and strangled to death. They then allegedly dumped his body near Central Avenue and 177th Street and returned home.The couple was arrest...