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GOP field in Pennsylvania Senate race still wide open as candidates consider jumping in

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:22 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The GOP primary field in Pennsylvania to challenge Democratic Sen. Bob Casey remains wide open, with the hopes of top party officials hanging on the potential entry of a high-profile candidate in a top-tier battleground state contest that could help define the Republican Party’s path forward in 2024.Former hedge fund CEO David McCormick is the favorite of party leaders and has drawn pledges of financial support from top Republican officials — should he decide to run. Meanwhile, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, a hard-right lawmaker who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump in last year’s race for governor but lost in a landslide, has said he will announce Thursday night whether he will run for Senate. McCormick is facing a complicated decision, with Trump seeking the party’s nomination for president. A Mastriano candidacy could further complicate McCormick’s path.At the very least, it will “force McCormick to go spend millions to defend him...

Quebec will require economic immigrants to speak French before arriving: Legault

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:22 GMT

Quebec Premier François Legault says the province will require that the vast majority of economic immigrants to Quebec speak French before they arrive. Sixty-five per cent of immigrants to Quebec come through the economic immigration stream, which is controlled by the province.Legault says his government is also considering increasing the number of immigrants it accepts every year to 60,000 people from 50,000 people, by 2027. He says the rise in immigration would come from people arriving through the economic stream, adding that his government is not considering increasing the number of people who immigrate through the family reunification program or as refugees.Legault had said during the province’s fall election campaign that accepting more than 50,000 immigrants a year would be “suicidal” for Quebec.Now he says that if immigrants speak French they wouldn’t threaten the province’s culture and language.This report by The Canadian Press was first publis...

Prosecutors widen child sex abuse case in polygamous sect, adding child pornography charges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:22 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Prosecutors have widened their case against members of a small polygamous group that resides near the Utah-Arizona border, detailing its leader’s sexual encounters with children he took as wives in new charges filed earlier this month.A grand jury accuses Sam Bateman of child pornography in a superseding indictment filed recently and adds new counts to charges filed last year for kidnapping and impeding an investigation. The May 18 document provides new details about how Bateman — with the help of followers — took wives as young as 9 years old and created a sprawling network spanning at least four states as he attempted to start an offshoot group of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.The FLDS is itself a breakaway sect of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The sect is known because its leader, Warren Jeffs, is serving a life sentence in federal prison in Texas. Polygamy is a legacy of the early teachings of the ma...

Chicago cardinal defends compensation plan, urges info on abusers after Illinois abuse report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:22 GMT

ROME (AP) — The archbishop of Chicago urged the Illinois attorney general on Thursday to provide information about newly uncovered cases of clergy sexual abuse that were included in a statewide investigative report, saying he would gladly add the names on his list of credibly accused priests if the claims were substantiated.In his first interview since the report was released Tuesday, Cardinal Blase Cupich expressed surprise that the 125 new cases involved some priests he had never heard of. He voiced dismay that the attorney general’s office hadn’t forwarded the new claims to the archdiocese to look into, as it had done during the five-year investigation.“We thought we had that kind of relationship with the attorney general and so are disappointed that we’re hearing these for the first time,” Cupich said.He spoke to The Associated Press during one of his periodic visits to the Vatican, where he sits on church committees and serves as a close adviser to Pope Francis.In the report, i...

Man fatally shot by police after approaching officers with axe in Des Plaines: authorities

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:22 GMT

DES PLAINES, Ill — A man was fatally shot by police after he threatened officers with an axe, according to Des Plaines police. The shooting happened around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at an apartment complex in the 1400 block of Thacker Street.Police said a 55-year-old man, identified as Scott MacDonald, was suffering a "psychotic breakdown" and was armed with an axe, the police department confirmed.According to authorities, MacDonald approached officers in a threatening manner at the time of the shooting.Police said that information has been confirmed through officers' body-camera footage.MacDonald was pronounced dead at an area hospital. Police arrest gunman who shot and wounded officer in Romeoville The officer involved in the shooting has been employed by the Des Plaines Police Department for just over two years, and has been placed on paid administrative leave.An investigation is being conducted by the Major Case Assistance Team.

WATCH LIVE | Chicago's new leaders' Memorial Day weekend public safety plan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:22 GMT

CHICAGO — Memorial Day marks the first holiday weekend in leadership for Chicago's new mayor and his interim top cop.Mayor Brandon Johnson will join Chicago Police Department Interim Superintendent Fred Waller Thursday afternoon to share the city's public safety plan in advance of the unofficial start to summer. Bleeding control kits at wall stations in Wrigley Field The two are expected to be joined by Chicago Fire Department Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt, Alderman Desmon Yancy, Alderman Lamont Robinson, Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities Executive Director Esther Franco-Payne, along with other city and community leaders.WGN plans to livestream the press conference in its entirety within this story beginning at approximately 1:30 p.m. It will then be update later today with details of the plan and reaction.

FBI ups reward for whereabouts of fugitive accused of killing wife hours after wedding

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:22 GMT

CHICAGO — The FBI has increased the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a fugitive suspected in the brutal 2012 murder of his new bride while driving home from their wedding reception in Chicago.Arnoldo Jimenez - Image provided by the FBIArnoldo Jimenez stabbed 26-year-old Estrella Carrera to death in his black, four-door Maserati in the early hours of May 12, 2012. Man accused of killing wife on wedding night added to FBI’s Most Wanted list Police say Estrella had been stabbed more than 18 times. She was later found in the bathtub of her condo in Burbank, still wearing the dress she wore to the reception. The FBI hopes that a reward of $250,000, increased from $100,000, will lead to a breakthrough in Jimenez's disappearance. According to the FBI, Jimenez is believed to have fled to Mexico. He allegedly had ties to Durango, Mexico, specifically Santiago Papasquiaro. He may also frequent Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico.Read more: Latest Chicago news headline...

Mississippi officer shot 11-year-old in chest after boy called 911 for help, mother says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:22 GMT

INDIANOLA, Miss. (WJTV) – A Mississippi family is demanding justice after a police officer responding to a domestic disturbance call over the weekend allegedly shot an 11-year-old boy in the chest.On Thursday, protesters gathered at a rally held outside of Indianola City Hall where attorney Carlos Moore called on the city to act in the wake of the shooting that left 11-year-old Aderrien Murry critically injured.Nakala Murry, the boy's mother, said Indianola police were called to the house because the boy’s father came over and was acting irate. When he acted this way, she knew something could potentially happen and wanted “to stop it right there.” She said she snuck her phone to her son and asked him to call her mother and the police.The officer-involved shooting happened around 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 20 at a home on BB King Road, according to Bailey Martin, press secretary for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety (DPS). The most popular college majors aren’t the highes...

Governor declares 'Taylor Swift ham, egg and cheese' official NJ state sandwich ahead of tour stop

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:22 GMT

(The Hill) -- Some places have saluted Taylor Swift by temporarily renaming entire cities after her or making her an honorary mayor, but New Jersey is upping the ante and paying tasty homage to the “Anti-Hero” singer with an eponymous state sandwich.“In New Jersey, we have a reputation for a great war between Taylor ham and pork roll,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said in a video posted on Twitter on Thursday, taking care to emphasize the shout-outs to Swift’s song titles included as part of his message.“Usually, we let you call it what you want,” Murphy said, “but since we have a superstar coming to town, we know all too well that we should commemorate the occasion.”Swift is poised to touch down in the Garden State beginning Friday as part of her “The Eras Tour,” with three performances at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.“So today we are declaring the official state sandwich of New Jersey a Taylor Swift ham, egg and cheese,” Murphy announced. Biden, Obama remembe...

Some US cities, including Chicago, may be at risk for mpox outbreaks this summer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:22 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The mpox health emergency has ended, but U.S. health officials are aiming to prevent a repeat of last year’s outbreaks.Mpox infections exploded early in the summer of 2022 in the wake of Pride gatherings. More than 30,000 U.S. cases were reported last year, most of them spread during sexual contact between gay and bisexual men. About 40 people died.With Pride events planned across the country in the coming weeks, health officials and event organizers say they are optimistic that this year infections will be fewer and less severe. A bigger supply of vaccine, more people with immunity and readier access to a drug to treat mpox are among the reasons.But they also worry that people may think of mpox as last year's problem.“Out of sight, out of mind,” said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who is advising the White House on its mpox response. “But we are beating the drum.”Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health alert to U.S. doctors to...