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Pentagon bans drag shows on military bases after GOP pressure

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:41 GMT

A day before the Pentagon celebrated the June 1 start of Pride Month, top defense leaders were quietly enforcing a militarywide ban on drag performances.The move became public after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley stepped in to stop a drag show at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., which had been scheduled for Thursday.In enforcing the ban, which stems from a long-standing Defense Department policy that has not always been applied, critics say the Pentagon appears to have acquiesced to GOP pressure in recent months to cancel those performances at military installations. Republican lawmakers, in hearings and letters to the Defense Department, have raged over drag shows and diversity programs, which they claim hurt recruiting efforts and compromise warfighting.LGBTQ rights groups have slammed the apparent shift from the Pentagon, noting the U.S. has a long history of supporting drag shows going back to at least World War I.Kelley Robinson, ...

'Crisis averted': Biden addresses bipartisan debt ceiling deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:41 GMT

(NewsNation) — In a Friday evening address from the Oval Office, President Joe Biden addressed the debt ceiling deal he negotiated with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that sailed through Congress with bipartisan support. Biden celebrated a “crisis averted" in his first address since the deal's passage, saying, “No one got everything they wanted, but the American people got what they needed.”The deal will suspend the debt limit for two years, while also putting in new work requirements for older Americans receiving food assistance. It also boosts funding for veterans and defense and approves a natural gas pipeline going from West Virginia to Virginia. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the plan cuts the deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next decade.  Biden highlighted the “compromise and consensus” in the deal. “We averted an economic crisis and an economic collapse,” he said. When will you need to start repaying your student loans? White House press secretary Kari...

Texas might use eminent domain to prevent developer taking over state park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:41 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The state of Texas may try to use eminent domain to prevent a developer from turning a state park into a private community.The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission will hold a special meeting June 10 to consider acquiring the land through condemnation, the process by which governments can use eminent domain.The developer, Dallas-based Todd Interests, plans to turn the property into a gated community with multi-million dollar homes and a golf course. The company will officially take over the land, which includes Fairfield Lake State Park, from the current owner on June 13.Lawmakers previously considered allowing the state to use eminent domain to acquire the property. A bill filed in the legislature was significantly altered to focus on water rights in the lake rather than using eminent domain. House Bill 4757 was passed by the House, but left pending in a Senate committee after some senators warned it could open the state up to possible litigation.The meeting announce...

Texas Ten Most Wanted fugitive captured in Central Texas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:41 GMT

KILLEEN, Texas (FOX 44) - One of Texas' Ten Most Wanted fugitives has been arrested in Killeen.Kentrell Lamar Fletcher, 35, affiliated with the Gangster Disciples gang, was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshals' Lone Star Fugitive Task Force. including DPS Special Agents, Deputy U.S. Marshals, the Killeen Police Department and the Coryell County Sheriff’s Office. Fletcher was convicted of burglary of a habitation in 2008 and was subsequently sentenced to three years of confinement in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison. He was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2010 and was subsequently sentenced to 15 years in a TDCJ prison. He was released on parole in September 2020.Fletcher had been wanted since November 2022, when the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles issued a warrant for his arrest for a parole violation (aggravated assault was the original offense). For more information, you can view his captured bulletin.Texas Crime Stoppers offers cas...

Ranked worst for running are these Texas cities—Do you agree?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:41 GMT

DALLAS (KDAF) — Looks like it’s time to call in the running wranglers! Runners are not going to find the running experience they expect in these Texas cities, according to Lawnlove's list of the best and worst cities for running. San Antonio ranked at #31, and Austin ranked at #39.Lawnlove is a lawn care service website that allows you to discover local lawn care services.Lawn Love said, " We compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on seven categories. We considered access to high-quality trails, pedestrian fatality rates, and climate, among 28 total metrics".The DFW area did not rank high on the list, Plano was ranked at #53, and Dallas was ranked at #76. Lawnlove has more cities on its list that you can find out more about by visiting its site.

St. Paul man gets 12-year prison term in woman’s 2019 overdose death at Roseville motel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:41 GMT

Michelle Werlein had waited more than three years for Friday, the day her daughter’s killer was sentenced to prison.It took two years for Bret Ryne Lott to be tracked down and charged with selling the suspected opioids that caused Werlein’s daughter, Zhennavie Bauman, to overdose on fentanyl-laced heroin and die in a Roseville motel room in 2019. She was 27.Bret Ryne Lott (Courtesy of Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)A year later, after a seven-day trial in April, jurors found Lott, 32, of St. Paul, guilty of third-degree murder in the Burnsville woman’s death.Now, Werlein was in a Ramsey County courtroom for his sentencing.“We have had to have an immense amount of patience, perseverance and faith in our judicial system,” she said. “I am beyond grateful to be here today representing my daughter Zhen. There are many families that will never get this chance we were given.”Judge Nicole Starr denied a motion from Lott’s attorneys for a durational departure from sentencing guidelines...

Historic preservationist group sues to stop demolition, replacement of Hamline-Midway Library

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:41 GMT

A group of historic preservationists filed a civil lawsuit this week against the city of St. Paul and the St. Paul Public Library asking for an injunction to stop the demolition and rebuilding of the Hamline-Midway Library.The library, also known as the Henry Hale Memorial Library, Hamline Branch, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in January, over the mayor’s objections, through the concerted efforts of neighborhood advocates and historic preservationists dubbing themselves “Renovate 1558.”Because the library — at 1558 W. Minnehaha Ave. — is listed on the National Register, the city must seek an environmental review before determining whether the structure can be demolished, the Renovate 1558 group claimed in court documents. The group instead wants to see the 93-year-old building undergo a renovation to modernize it yet retain its historic character.Statement from the cityIn response, the city released a statement saying it was aware of the civil suit and was r...

NY man convicted of leaving swastikas in churches as a hate crime

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:41 GMT

HORNELL, N.Y. (WETM) -- A Hornell man is now the third person guilty in connection to a string of hateful symbols and pamphlets that appeared in local houses of worship and on City property last summer.The Steuben County District Attorney's Office announced that Ryan Mulhollen, 28, was convicted on 10 counts of 1st-degree Aggravated Harassment and nine counts of 4th-degree Criminal Mischief as a Hate Crime. All the charges are class-E felonies. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! The decision came after Mulhollen and two others (Aubrey Dragonetti and Dylan Henry) were arrested in July 2022 when Hornell Police investigated reports that pamphlets and stickers of swastikas and racial slurs showed up in two local churches, as well as throughout James Street Park.According to the DA's announcement, Mulhollen placed the swastikas, nooses, and "other racially directed statements of hate... in the name of the Aryan National Army", a gr...

NBA commissioner Adam Silver on future of Nuggets, NBA broadcasts: “We have an opportunity now to redesign how fans can receive games”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:41 GMT

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on Friday looked to a future beyond the ongoing Nuggets broadcast impasse between Altitude and Comcast sports and said he thinks a larger “redesign” of how Denver fans and basketball fans more broadly consume games is in order.After an NBA Cares ceremony at the Arthur E. Johnson Boys & Girls Club in Denver, Silver outlined what he thinks the league’s role can be — he said Thursday before Game 1 of the NBA Finals that solving the problem is “on us” — given it’s not directly involved in the conflict.“We have an opportunity now to redesign how fans can receive games,” Silver said. “It’s clear to me that, where I’m saying it’s on us, the last thing we want to do is disenfranchise fans. Not that it should be any different, but particularly when you have a Finals-caliber team and we know that there’s intense interest in seeing these games. I’m very sympathetic to fans and I get a lot of emails and I’ve seen on social media and just comments while I’m here ...

L.A. County health officials investigate case of reported hepatitis A at Men’s Central Jail

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:41 GMT

Los Angeles County Public Health officials are investigating a report of a person who reported having a hepatitis A infection while detained at Men’s Central Jail.They advise anyone who was detained at the jail, located at 441 Bauchet St near downtown L.A., between May 13 and May 28 to get vaccinated against the virus. Anyone who was held at the jail during that time and later developed symptoms of hepatitis A should seek medical care.Officials are offering vaccines to everyone at the jail who may have been exposed.Hepatitis A is highly contagious and can spread before someone even feels sick.The virus causes short-term liver infection and is found in the stool and blood of those who are infected.It is usually transmitted through eating contaminated food, or through close contact with a person who is infectious. Symptoms include fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dark urine or yellow eyes/skin, officials explained.While there is no specific therapy for hepatitis A, v...