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Baltimore police shooting prompts criticism of specialized gun squads

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:36 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — After a corruption scandal led the Baltimore Police Department to disband its plainclothes gun squad in 2017, the embattled agency pledged to increase oversight while remaining focused on seizing illegal weapons and curbing rampant violence.But several years later, two recent police shootings involving the department’s latest iteration of the specialized units have raised questions about how they are operating today.Officials have not yet released body camera footage of the most recent shooting, which occurred Tuesday afternoon, but residents of the southwest Baltimore neighborhood expressed outrage over what they called an unnecessary loss of life. They said the deadly police shooting has drawn attention to an issue they have been complaining about for years: that certain officers are known in the majority-Black community for harassing residents and escalating otherwise peaceful encounters.“They’re always jumping out on us for no reason. It happens all the time,” s...

Virginia Democrats lost in several key swing districts. So how did they win the General Assembly?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:36 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The election results this week in Virginia suggest that Republicans must essentially run the table in competitive areas across the state in order to find overall success at the ballot box. Democrats won full control of the General Assembly despite losing in key swing districts.Republicans had been able to do that in 2021, along with Republican Glenn Youngkin’s victory over Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the governor’s race. In addition to Youngkin’s 2-percentage-point win, Republicans also won the races for lieutenant governor and attorney general that year in very close votes. President Joe Biden, on the other hand, defeated Donald Trump in Virginia in 2020 by more than 10 percentage points.In this year’s election, Republican candidates prevailed in three of the four Biden-Youngkin state Senate districts and in at least seven of 11 Biden-Youngkin state House districts. The Republican incumbent in an additional Biden-Youngkin state House district in Petersburg i...

Dr. Arwady heading to CDC to lead National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:36 GMT

ATLANTA — The former commissioner of the Chicago Dept. of Public Dr. Allison Arwady will be heading to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for a director position.Dr. Arwady will be leading the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. It is focused on violence, suicide, overdose and injury prevention.Her first day is on Jan. 16, 2024."I am honored to join the CDC in tackling some of the most pressing public health issues that face our communities today,” said Dr. Arwady. “During my time leading Chicago’s Department of Public Health, I saw the power of using local data to drive public health action and I look forward to translating this experience to a national scale. From overdose to violence, this country is in crisis, and we must meet the crisis with strong public health approaches that center evidence and equity." ‘The honor of my life:’ Chicago’s former top doc speaks out after sudden firing Dr. Arwady was confirmed as commissioner in Jan. 2020...

Krispy Kreme to give 12 free doughnuts to customers on World Kindness Day

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:36 GMT

FRESNO, Calif. (KGPE/KSEE) – Krispy Kreme is celebrating World Kindness Day with — what else? — free doughnuts.This week, Krispy Kreme announced plans to give a dozen doughnuts to the first 500 customers who visit a participating U.S. location on Nov. 13, no other purchase necessary.The idea, according to Krispy Kreme, is to inspire customers to share their sweet treats with others in honor of World Kindness Day. The original 'Dunkin' Donut' had a rather unique shape “We hope a dozen Original Glazed doughnuts — one doughnut for you and many to share with others – will inspire millions of small acts of kindness," Dave Skena, the global chief brand officer for Krispy Kreme, said in a statement included with Wednesday's press release. The free dozen will include mostly Original Glazed, though each box will contain one World Kindness Day Chocolate Iced Heart Doughnut, a representative for the company confirmed.The company estimates it will give away "around 2 million" of the doug...

The Bears can snap a streak Thursday - and it's all about the uniforms

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:36 GMT

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — For the better part of the past year, the Bears have been looking to snap streaks, mostly negative. Another one of those comes up on Thursday, and it all has to do with the color of their uniforms. You see the Bears are wearing their orange jerseys for the second and likely final time for the 2023 season when they host the Panthers at Soldier Field at 7:15 p.m. They're hoping that the jersey combination will finally be lucky after nearly five years of it being the opposite.(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)The Bears' Week 2 loss to the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium in the orange jerseys marked the team's seventh-straight loss while wearing the uniforms. In the orange helmets, which were introduced by the team in 2022, they've lost all three games they've played. That included a 12-7 loss to the Commanders in Week 6 at Soldier Field and a Week 8 loss to the Cowboys in Arlington last season. Here's the current Bears' losing streak in the orange jerseys.10/2...

Jill Stein launches 2024 bid as Green Party candidate

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:36 GMT

Jill Stein announced a surprise presidential bid Thursday, seeking the Green Party’s 2024 nomination.Stein, a physician who ran against Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in 2016 as the Green Party's nominee, previewed her latest run for the White House on social media and unveiled an accompanying website. An official launch is slated for later this month.“Our democracy is on life support,” Stein wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, previewing a Nov. 21 campaign kickoff.“Belief in our political system is at historic lows and the number of Americans who feel that neither establishment party represents them is at a record high. We need real choices on the ballot, because without freedom of choice in elections, there is no democracy. It’s time to revive the promise of democracy.”Stein wrote on her website that she is entering the presidential race “to offer people a choice outside the failed two-party system, so we can put a pro-worker, anti-war, climate emergency agenda front and cent...

New $370M State Emergency Operations Center to be built near Austin airport

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:36 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Construction on a $370 million State Emergency Operations Center near the Austin Bergstrom International Airport was approved Thursday by the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS) Board of Regents.The center will also serve as agency headquarters for the Texas Division of Emergency Management, according to the board.Of the $370 million, $9.7 million will go toward land acquisition, and the remaining will help build the 295,978-square-foot facility.TAMUS said the current State Operations Center in Austin was built in the 1950s and was no longer suitable to support the state’s emergency response operations.Construction will begin this month and is expected to be completed in August 2026, according to TAMUS.“With this investment by the Legislature and the support of the Governor and Board of Regents, Texas will increase its capabilities to better prepare for, respond to, recover from and mitigate against any disaster we face,” said Texas Emergency Management Chief Nim...

High school football: Friday’s state quarterfinal predictions

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:36 GMT

Friday’s high school football state tournament quarterfinal games involving East Metro teams:CLASS 6ALakeville South (9-1) vs. East Ridge (4-6), at St. Michael-Albertville, 7 p.m.Cheers to East Ridge, whose two playoff wins already match its regular-season total. The Raptors are making their second straight state tournament quarterfinal appearance. Last season, they pushed eventual champion Maple Grove to the brink. Lakeville South is also a championship contender thanks to a strong defense, stout running game and ability to make the right play the right time. East Ridge is clearly riding some playoff magic, and has the physicality to match up with top teams, but the Cougars may just be better. OUR PICK: Lakeville South 28, East Ridge 14Eden Prairie (10-0) vs. Lakeville North (9-1), at Spring Lake Park, 7 p.m.About as close as you’ll get to a state championship game in the quarterfinal round. Lakeville North may be best equipped of any other team in the metro to go toe-t...

Wild hoping to see another recharged veteran when Zach Bogosian hits the ice

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:36 GMT

NEW YORK — Second chance, reboot or just a change. Whatever you call the trade that sent Pat Maroon to Minnesota for a seventh-round draft pick, it has been a boon to player and team.And Maroon believes a similar trade for his former Tampa Bay Lightning teammate Zach Bogosian can pay similar dividends.“I think sometimes you need a fresh start to kind of recharge, a second chance — or whatever it is,” Maroon said Thursday after the Wild’s morning skate at Madison Square Garden, their first with new defenseman Bogosian. “Obviously, you can see he wasn’t playing in Tampa. I don’t know why. But I think Minnesota has upgraded here.”General manager Bill Guerin on Wednesday made room on the blue line by trading Calen Addison to San Jose for a prospect and fifth-round pick, then completed a trade for Bogosian, a Stanley Cup winner with the Lightning in 2020 who started his 16th NHL season by mostly watching from the press box, a healthy scratch in nine of Tampa Bay’s 13 games.“Things just g...

Men’s basketball: Gophers learning from other Big Ten upsets

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:36 GMT

Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson was handed the best type of lesson: a chance to learn from others’ mistakes.While Minnesota was taking care of Bethune-Cookman in an 80-60 season-opening victory on Monday, No. 4 Michigan State lost in overtime to James Madison and Rutgers fell 68-61 to Princeton.“I love to point that out to our team,” Johnson said Wednesday. “I talk about it all the time. But it’s better when I can reference things that happen within our league. I think Michigan State is a perfect scenario that anybody now can beat anybody, especially early in the year when teams are still figuring out their identity.”These types of results should put the Gophers (1-0) on alert as Texas-San Antonio (1-0) comes to Williams Arena for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff Friday.Another good example for Johnson came Tuesday when Indiana trailed Florida Gulf Coast in the second half before pulling out a 69-63 victory.“That is why I scheduled them,” Johnson said of Florida Gulf Coast coming to Th...