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NY woman who fatally shoved singing coach, age 87, is sentenced to more time in prison than expected

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:52:12 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York judge sentenced a woman who pleaded guilty to fatally shoving an 87-year-old Broadway singing coach onto a Manhattan sidewalk to six months more in prison than the eight years that had been previously reached in a plea deal.During Friday’s sentencing of Lauren Pazienza for manslaughter, Manhattan state Supreme Court Judge Felicia Mennin said she was unconvinced that the 28-year-old Long Island woman took responsibility for her actions on March 10, 2022, when she pushed the vocal teacher, Barbara Maier Gustern, to the ground.Gustern, whose students included “Blondie” singer Debbie Harry, lay bleeding on a sidewalk. She died five days later.Pazienza pleaded guilty on Aug. 23. She could have been sentenced to 25 years had she been convicted during a trial.Pazienza, a former event planner originally from Long Island, has been locked up at the city’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex since a judge revoked her bail in May 2022. According to prosecutors,...

A truck crash in Illinois kills 5, seriously injures 5 and forces an evacuation due to ammonia leak

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:52:12 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Authorities say five people were killed and five were seriously injured after a truck overturned in central Illinois, causing a toxic substance to leak from its cargo. Effingham County Coroner Kim Rhodes said the five dead included three from the same family — one adult and two children under 12. The other two were adult motorists from out of state, Rhodes said. Additionally, five people were airlifted to area hospitals, their conditions unknown.The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday it will review the crash, which also prompted an evacuation of area residents. Illinois State Police said the accident occurred Friday and involved “multiple” vehicles. It happened about a half-mile east of Teutopolis on U.S. Highway 40. Police said Saturday that due to the plume from the ammonia leak, an evacuation was ordered within an approximate one mile radius of the crash, including northeastern parts of Teutopolis. Crews were working to contain the leak. T...

Indigenous police officer hopes to inspire with trilingual ‘O Canada’ at Blue Jays game

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:52:12 GMT

Sgt. Chantal Larocque hopes that singing “O Canada” in English, French and Algonquin at Rogers Centre before a Toronto Blue Jays game will open everyone’s eyes to the possibilities of creating a more inclusive game experience.Larocque, who is an officer with the Anishinabek Police Service, sang the national anthem on Saturday as part of the Major League Baseball team’s ceremony for National Truth and Reconciliation Day. She said that including Indigenous languages in the national anthem more frequently would help Canadians work toward reconciliation year-round, not just once per year.Anishinabek Police Sgt. Chantal Larocque sang ‘O Canada’ in Algonquin, French and English at the Blue Jays game on Saturday September 30th. CITYNEWS“It’s what we do the remaining 364 days in the year where we can break down the barriers, the stereotypes, the misinformation that we’ve received over the years in the education system,” said Larocq...

Federal agency sues Chipotle after a Kansas manager allegedly ripped off an employee’s hijab

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:52:12 GMT

A federal agency has sued the restaurant chain Chipotle, accusing it of religious harassment and retaliation after a manager at a Kansas location forcibly removed an employee’s hijab, a headscarf worn by some Muslim women.In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged that in 2021, an assistant manager at a Chipotle in Lenexa, Kansas, repeatedly harassed the employee by asking her to show him her hair, despite her refusal. After several weeks, the harassment culminated in him grabbing and partially removing her hijab, according to the complaint.The manager’s “offensive and incessant requests” that she remove her hijab, and his attempt to physically take it off, were “unwelcome, intentional, severe, based on religion, and created a hostile working environment based on religion,” the complaint alleged.Chipotle’s chief corporate affairs officer, Laurie Schalow, said the company encourages employees to report concerns, including...

Biden says a possible shutdown wouldn’t be his fault. Would Americans agree with him?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:52:12 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Staring down a possible government shutdown, the White House wants to make sure any blame would fall at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue — specifically on House Republicans. After all, it was the majority party in the House that had been paralyzed until Saturday by an inability to pass a funding package, stymied by members who don’t want to uphold a bipartisan spending agreement from earlier this year. President Joe Biden is hoping the rest of the country would see things the same way. It’s a murky proposition at a time of extreme political polarization, with many Americans dug into their partisan corners regardless of the facts of the matter.But with a midnight deadline looming, the House on Saturday approved a 45-day funding bill to keep federal agencies open. Speaker Kevin McCarthy dropped demands for steep spending cuts and relied on Democratic votes for passage to send the package to the Senate, which was meeting in a rare weekend session.A shutdown ...

Judge blocks 2 provisions in North Carolina’s new abortion law; 12-week near-ban remains in place

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:52:12 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge on Saturday blocked two portions of North Carolina’s new abortion law from taking effect while a lawsuit continues. But nearly all of the restrictions approved by the legislature this year, including a near-ban after 12 weeks of pregnancy, aren’t being specifically challenged and remain intact. U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles issued an order halting enforcement of a provision to require surgical abortions that occur after 12 weeks — those for cases of rape and incest, for example — be performed only in hospitals, not abortion clinics. That limitation would have otherwise taken effect on Sunday. And in the same preliminary injunction, Eagles extended beyond her temporary decision in June an order preventing enforcement of a rule that doctors must document the existence of a pregnancy within the uterus before prescribing a medication abortion.Short of successful appeals by Republican legislative leaders defending the laws, the orde...

Truck crash in Illinois kills 5, seriously injures 5 and forces an evacuation due to ammonia leak

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:52:12 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Authorities say five people were killed and five were seriously injured after a truck overturned in central Illinois, causing a toxic substance to leak from its cargo. Effingham County Coroner Kim Rhodes said the five dead included three from the same family — one adult and two children under 12. The other two were adult motorists from out of state, Rhodes said. Additionally, five people were airlifted to area hospitals, their conditions unknown.The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday it will review the crash, which also prompted an evacuation of area residents. Illinois State Police said the accident occurred Friday and involved “multiple” vehicles. It happened about a half-mile east of Teutopolis on U.S. Highway 40. Police said Saturday that due to the plume from the ammonia leak, an evacuation was ordered within an approximate one mile radius of the crash, including northeastern parts of Teutopolis. Crews were working to contain the leak. T...

The best days to fly around Thanksgiving in 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:52:12 GMT

(NerdWallet) - Thanksgiving week tends to draw major airport crowds, and coupled with inevitable weather delays, it can be a brutal time to travel. Not to mention, the conventional wisdom to fly on Tuesdays won't necessarily save you much money.But some days within Thanksgiving week are significantly busier than others. If you can afford to be flexible with scheduling, you’ll not only save money, but you might also avoid chaos.The best and worst days to fly around ThanksgivingNerdWallet analyzed the past four years of checkpoint travel numbers provided by the Transportation Security Administration, which tracks the number of passengers screened daily in the U.S. at its checkpoints.In each of the past four years, the Sunday after Thanksgiving was the most crowded day to travel from the seven days before and after Thanksgiving.As far as the least crowded? Thanksgiving Day itself.When averaging over the past four years, here were the most to least crowded days for Thanksgiving flying:S...

Gov. Abbott calls third special session to begin Oct. 9

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:52:12 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Gov. Greg Abbott said a special session will start at 1 p.m., Oct. 9, according to a letter sent to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan.Abbott told Christian faith leaders in a tele-town hall on Sept. 12 that he intended to call another special session this year. The upcoming special session will be the third of the year and is set to begin in October.What's to come in the third special session?One of the main items on the agenda Abbott plans to push for is school choice: where public education funds would be able to benefit private schools, not just public schools.“There’s an easy way to get it done and a hard way to get it done,” Gov. Abbott said at the tele-town hall. “The easy way will be for these legislators to come into the regular session, this next special session, and vote in favor of school choice.”In Texas, one special session is limited to a maximum of 30 days. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Gov. Abbott will call special session for school v...

San Marcos police shut down portion of highway to search for homicide suspect, road has since reopened

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:52:12 GMT

SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) – San Marcos Police closed in both directions a portion of Highway 123 early Saturday morning due to an ongoing homicide investigation. The portion of the highway, between Redwood Road and Old Bastrop Road, was reopened after 5 a.m. Saturday, but police have yet to release additional details about the homicide incident except that SMPD was continuing its investigation. In a social media post, the San Marcos Police Department said it closed down the highway to search for the suspect. Police said they did not believe there was an ongoing threat to the public at the time. SMPD has yet to say whether officers have captured the suspect.