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Federal judge again rules that California’s ban on assault weapons is unconstitutional

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:07 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge who previously overturned California’s three-decade-old ban on assault weapons did it again on Thursday, ruling that the state’s attempts to prohibit sales of semiautomatic guns violates the constitutional right to bear arms.U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego conceded that powerful weapons like AR-15 rifles are commonly used by criminals, but said the guns are importantly also owned by people who obey the law and feel they need firearms to protect themselves. “The State of California posits that its ‘assault weapon’ ban, the law challenged here, promotes an important public interest of disarming some mass shooters even though it makes criminals of law-abiding residents who insist on acquiring these firearms for self-defense,” Benitez wrote. “Nevertheless, more than that is required to uphold a ban.”The judge’s ruling is nearly identical to a 2021 decision in which he called California’s ban on assault weapons a “fa...

Labour minister promises action to prevent repeat of B.C. port strike dispute

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:07 GMT

Canada’s federal labour minister says the government’s latest attempt to prevent disruptive disputes at British Columbia’s ports will lead to change this time.Seamus O’Regan promised to follow through on recommendations from a review of what went wrong during the port strike this summer that stopped cargo from moving through Canada’s busiest ports. Previous studies dating back to the 1990s on the contentious relationship between the longshore union and BC Maritime Employers Association have led to multiple recommendations that were not implemented, but O’Regan says this time will be different.The minister has appointed two experts from Kingston’s Queen’s University to lead the review and he has asked them to identify key questions and propose a terms of reference by the end of the year. O’Regan says the goal of the latest review is to “examine the structural issues underlying” the dispute that saw strike action for ne...

Toronto police say over 130 per cent rise in hate-related calls since Israel-Gaza war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:07 GMT

With the rise in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia since the conflict broken out in Israel and Gaza, the City of Toronto and Toronto Police service are reiterating their commitment to an inclusive city for everyone, especially around places of worship.It comes as there has been a reported 132 per cent increase in hate-related calls to Toronto police. Since October 7, there have been 14 hate crimes reported, 12 of which were anti-Semitic and two were Islamophobic. They include incidents of mischief, uttering death threats and criminal harassment. The Toronto Police Service Board joined city council in condemning in the “strongest possible terms” all forms of hate as a part of plan to keep “Toronto safe from hate.”The Board was considering a motion on Thursday from the City to create community safety zones around places of worship and cultural centres, including schools and daycares, something Police Chief Myron Demkiw said they are already doing.“We have be...

Health expert says B.C. overdose crisis needs expanded, dignified treatment focus

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:07 GMT

VICTORIA — A British Columbia health expert says the province needs more overdose prevention sites and a renewed commitment to decriminalization as it tries to curb drug poisonings that kill six people a day.Dr. Reka Gustafson, the chief medical health officer for Island Health, told about 300 addiction experts meeting in Victoria that drug treatment policies and programs must have the same status as any other health service.Gustafson says dedicated cancer treatment facilities and anti-alcohol initiatives are proven measures and approaches that would benefit addiction treatment in B.C.She says the province must do more to embrace overdose prevention sites as places that save lives and continue to support its decriminalization program despite the recent public debate about open drug use in public places.Gustafson says health experts made a mistake during the pandemic telling people to isolate themselves in order to stop the spread of COVID-19, only to have overdose deaths spike.About...

Sidney Powell vowed to ‘release the Kraken’ to help Donald Trump. She may now testify against him

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:07 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The Kraken has cracked.Lawyer Sidney Powell, who famously vowed to unleash a mythical sea monster of litigation to prove that Donald Trump didn’t lose the 2020 election, has now struck a deal with Georgia prosecutors admitting she conspired to wrongly interfere with the state’s election results. Her guilty plea Thursday culminates a three-year journey in which she pursued baseless and often outlandish theories in the weeks before a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Along the way, Powell was part of several key events in the state and federal indictments against Trump for his conduct in the 2020 election and now becomes a potential witness against him.She’s the second person to take a plea after bail bondsman Scott Graham Hall pleaded guilty last month. “Sidney Powell was part of Trump’s inner circle at various points in the criminal conspiracy, particularly as Trump became more desperate in the final weeks of his presidency,” Bradley P. Mo...

Arizona’s Maricopa County has a new record for heat-associated deaths after the hottest summer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:07 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona’s Maricopa County set a new record Thursday for annual heat-associated deaths, with 425 tallied so far this year, the same number confirmed for all of 2022.Maricopa County, the hottest metropolitan area in the U.S. and home to Phoenix, said the 425 deaths were confirmed as of Oct. 14. Another 199 deaths remained under investigation. As of the same time last year, 359 heat-associated deaths had been confirmed, with another 91 deaths still being studied. “Even with extreme heat like we saw this summer, these deaths are preventable,” said a statement from Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine, medical director for the Maricopa County Department of Health. “This tragic record reminds us that as a community, we have more work to do to prevent these deaths.”No other major metropolitan area in the U.S. has reported such high heat-associated death figures or spends so much time tracking and studying them.This summer, Phoenix experienced the hottest three months since rec...

New Jersey police capture man accused of shoving woman into moving NYC subway train

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:07 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A man accused of shoving a woman into the side of a moving New York City subway train was captured in New Jersey on Thursday, police said.Sabir Jones, 39, was detained by Newark police and transferred to the U.S. Marshals Service, Newark Public Safety Director Fritz Fragé said in a written statement. New York City police on Wednesday began searching for Jones after he was identified as the person who “forcibly shoved” the 30-year-old woman as she was standing on a subway platform in midtown Manhattan. The suspect fled the scene on foot, exiting the turnstiles.The woman, who has not been identified, was hospitalized and listed in critical condition after sustaining head trauma. “As the train was pulling out of the station she was pushed, causing her head to strike the moving train. The train departed the station and then she fell onto the roadbed, onto the tracks,” Chief of Transit NYPD Michael Kemper told reporters at briefing on Wednesday. Good Samaritans then pulle...

Newly appointed California Sen. Laphonza Butler will not seek election to a full term in 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:07 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Newly appointed California Democratic Sen. Laphonza Butler will not seek election to a full term in 2024, avoiding what would have been a costly and competitive race for the seat held for three decades by the late Dianne Feinstein. Butler — who was named earlier this month by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to complete Feinstein’s remaining term — said in a statement she made the decision after considering “what kind of life I want to have, what kind of service I want to offer and what kind of voice I want to bring forward.” “Knowing you can win a campaign doesn’t always mean you should run a campaign. I know this will be a surprise to many because traditionally we don’t see those who have power let it go,” Butler added. “It may not be the decision people expected but it’s the right one for me.” Her candidacy would have complicated an already crowded race that includes several other prominent Democrats — U.S. Reps. Katie Porter, Adam Schiff an...

Gaza under Israeli siege: Bread lines, yellow water and nonstop explosions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:07 GMT

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — There are explosions audible in the cramped, humid room where Azmi Keshawi shelters with his family in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis. The bombardments keep coming closer, he says, and they’re wreaking death and destruction. Keshawi, his wife, two sons, two daughters and tiny grandchildren are trying to survive inside. The Israeli military has relentlessly attacked Gaza in retaliation for a devastating Hamas rampage in southern Israel almost two weeks ago and the Keshawi family’s sense of desperation is growing. Food is running out and Israel has so far stopped humanitarian attempts to bring it in. The family hasn’t showered in days since Israel cut off Gaza’s water and fuel supplies. They get drinking water from the U.N. school, where workers hand out jerrycans of water from Gaza’s subterranean aquifer to desperate families. It tastes salty. The desalination stations stopped working when the fuel ran out.Keshawi boils the water and ho...

CPS student's STEM project making an impact in the world of wildfires

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:07 GMT

CHICAGO — A Chicago Public School high school student took the Science Olympiad to an entirely new level.Nikita Agrawal’s research has not only racked up a ton of awards at both local and international science fairs, but the model she came up with was so impressive that it caught the attention of prominent scientists. Nikita, a senior at Whitney Young High School, was serious about not just placing at the CPS Science STEM Exhibit, but making sure her research was impactful. "I have this model that can predict where large wildfires will occur and we can then use that model to identify regions of the United States which are susceptible to wildfire risk,” she said.With her months of research data glued to trifold cardboard it quickly became apparent this was no average entry.  More from Erin: Chicago’s Hare BnB helping rabbits find homes "She took what other scientists had started and then found new ways of looking at it, interpreting it,” Anna Gallardo, Science Dept. Chair at W...