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‘My heart sunk’: Brampton mayor speaks out after man dies in tent outside former Peel shelter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:53 GMT

There is a growing wave of concern over the housing crisis in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in the wake of an asylum seeker’s death as a result of being forced to sleep at an encampment outside of a former shelter in Mississauga.Peel Regional Police responded to reports of a sudden death at an encampment outside of the shelter on Dundas Street East near Dixie Road on Wednesday morning. Investigators say a man in his 40s was found inside one of the tents without vital signs.Police said there is no evidence to indicate that the death was criminal, with investigators adding that a heating source in the tent could have caused the man’s death.Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown says one fatality is too many and is calling on government levels to act and support municipalities.“We’ve been warning senior levels of government since July that this was going to happen, and right now, we have anywhere from 46 to 100 asylum claimants sleeping outside every night,” Brown ...

Families of 5 Minnesota men killed by police sue agency to force release of investigation files

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:53 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The families of five Minnesota men who were killed by police officers announced a lawsuit Thursday to force the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to release its investigative files on their deaths, saying the state agency has failed to comply with Minnesota’s open records law.The lawsuit, filed Monday in Ramsey County District Court in St. Paul, says once the investigation into a deadly force incident is completed and a prosecutor decides not to charge the officers, the data legally should be turned over to the families of the deceased within 10 days of them requesting it. Prosecutors in all five cases cleared the officers of wrongdoing. But the lawsuit says the BCA still hasn’t met its legal obligations to the families. The agency did’t respond to emailed requests for comment.Not only would getting the files help provide some closure, but the long delays make it hard for families to file wrongful death lawsuits within the state’s three-year ...

Ex-sergeant pleads guilty to failing to stop fatal standoff with man in mental health crisis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:53 GMT

DENVER (AP) — One of two Colorado law enforcement officers accused of needlessly escalating a standoff that led to the death of a 22-year-old man suffering a mental health crisis pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor on Thursday and was sentenced to two years of probation.Kyle Gould pleaded guilty to failing to intervene to stop the the unlawful use of force against Christian Glass, who was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy, Andrew Buen, under Gould’s command in 2022 after Glass called for help when his SUV got stuck. Gould was not at the scene but was the shift supervisor and watched what was happening using live body camera footage, according to his indictment. Prosecutors alleged Gould gave permission for Buen to remove Glass from his vehicle even though he was not suspected of having committed any crimes.Gould, who worked as a sergeant for the Clear Creek Sheriff’s Office, was indicted last year on charges of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangermen...

B.C. replaces Surrey Police Board with administrator over troubled transition

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:53 GMT

VICTORIA — The British Columbia government has appointed an administrator to act in place of the Surrey Police Board and assist the city’s troubled transition from the RCMP to a municipal force.Mike Farnworth, minister of public safety and solicitor general, says all members of the Surrey Police Board have been suspended and he’s appointed former Abbotsford chief constable Mike Serr to take over all their duties.Farnworth says he acted because of a “lack of progress” from the City of Surrey in the transition to the Surrey Police Service. Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke, who chairs the board, has opposed the transition and has previously accused Farnworth of bullying and misogyny against her.Farnworth says the decision is not a reflection on the board members who would eventually resume their duties, and he thanked them for their “incredible” work.The minister says he informed Locke of his decision and they had a “good, cordial conversation.”“I think thi...

Toronto private school teacher facing sexual assault charge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:53 GMT

A Toronto private school teacher has been arrested and charged with the alleged sexual assault of one of his 18-year-old students.On October 31, 2023, authorities were called to TAIE International Institute, an international private school located in the area of Church Street and Carlton Street. Police said the accused was a teacher at the school where he taught the 18-year-old female victim and that in July 2023, the teacher sexually assaulted the young woman.On November 2, 2023, investigators charged 48-year-old Hossein Alizadeh with sexual assault. He’s scheduled to appear in court on January 4, 2024.Police said Alizadeh was employed at TAIE International Institute as a teacher between 2018 and 2023.Investigators are concerned there may be more victims.

Second arrest made in Halloween weekend shooting in Tampa that killed 2, injured 16 others

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:53 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A second person was arrested Thursday in a Tampa, Florida, mass shooting that erupted during Halloween festivities, leaving two dead and 16 injured, police said.A 14-year-old boy was arrested in Palm Beach County and was waiting to be transported back to Tampa, police said in a news release. He faces felony charges of being a minor in possession of a firearm while wearing a mask and carrying a concealed firearm. “There is no reasonable explanation for a 14-year-old to be in possession of a firearm,” Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a statement.An argument between two groups led to the shooting in the early morning hours of Oct. 29 in Tampa’s Ybor City area, police said. Later that day, detectives arrested Tyrell Stephen Phillips, 22, in connection with the shooting. He was charged with second-degree murder with a firearm. The early morning fight occurred in an area with several bars and clubs that was once the center of Tampa’s cigar industry. In more r...

2 environmentalists who were targeted by a hacking network say the public is the real victim

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:53 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Two environmentalists told a federal judge Thursday that the public was the real victim of a global computer hacking campaign that targeted those fighting big oil companies to get the truth out about global warming.A climate scientist and the director of a fund that creates initiatives to address climate change spoke at the sentencing of an Israeli man who prosecutors said enabled the hacking of thousands of individuals and entities worldwide.Aviram Azari, 52, of Kiryat Yam, Israel, was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for his role in a global computer-hacking network that authorities say targeted environmentalists, companies and individuals.“I was the target, but the public at large was the intended victim,” said Peter Frumhoff, director of science and policy and chief scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Cambridge, Massachusetts.“It is our job to tell the world the truth about a world on fire” and who “lit the flame,” said Lee Wasserma...

Skilling: Possible showers, windy start to weekend for Chicagoland

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:53 GMT

It was Day #4 consecutively in Chicago at or above 60-deg.  Today's 66-deg high is the 3rd warmest Nov 16th high on the books going back all 153 years since 1871.It was the warmest Nov 16th here in Chicago in nearly half a century---since a 67-deg high on this date back in 1975----48 years ago!The only warmer Nov 16's have been 67 in 1975 and 70-deg in 1896.  The places today in the 2% warmest Nov 16's on the books since 1871 here.A cold front passes overnight and ushers much cooler air into the area for daytime Friday.  And while weekend temps will make it into the low and mid 50s, they'll be markedly cooler than the comparatively "warmth" Chicagoans have experienced most of this work week.Some cold frontal showers which are to develop over Illinois in the overnight hours past midnight may linger into the opening few hours of Friday.  But clearing follows Friday and a beautiful sun-filled weekend is on the way but with cooler temps. While daytime highs will actually ...

Thieves steal car in Memphis, return it to owner the next day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:53 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) --- Police are on the hunt for two men they say are responsible for stealing a car out of a driveway in Memphis, but it's what happened next that has police and neighbors happily perplexed. This victim may be the luckiest unlucky man ever because the car he thought he would never see again showed up again the next day.  At least 23 injured after CTA train crash on North Side: CFD Surveillance video obtained by WREG shows the moment a man pulled up to his friend's home on Parkrose Avenue and got out of his black Mercedes. Moments later, two men cross the street and get in the car. The victim walked over, looking confused, until one of the men pulled a gun and pointed it at him as he ran, jumped down in the bushes, and hid.The thieves took off in the car up the road.  All of this happened right across the street from a school just before 11 a.m. on Thursday. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland spoke with WREG earlier ...

Illinois releases monarch butterfly license plates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:53 GMT

CHICAGO -- Illinois residents can finally get their long-awaited monarch butterfly specialty license plate.State lawmakers made the announcement on Thursday saying it makes good on promise they made in 2016 after they passed legislation to create the state's first universal specialty plate. The move was aimed at limiting the number of specialty license plates. Snoop Dogg says he’s giving up smoking weed By 2018, more than 2,000 residents had pre-ordered the monarch butterfly specialty license plates.The funds will go towards protecting the endangered monarch butterfly from extinction as part of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources' Roadside Monarch Habitat Fund.For more information on the Illinois monarch butterfly license plates, click here.