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New York City sticking with migrant hotel plan despite pushback from suburbs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:06 GMT

A plan by New York City officials to send some migrants seeking asylum to hotels in northern suburbs was met with fierce resistance by local leaders, leading to a delay in an initial transfer that had been touted for Wednesday even as the city insisted its plans hadn’t changed.Mayor Eric Adams had caused an uproar north of the city by announcing Friday that the city would send north up to 300 single, adult men to two hotels in suburban Rockland County and neighboring Orange County for up to four months. The Democratic mayor’s plan comes as the city struggles to deal with a surge of about 60,000 asylum-seekers since last spring, many of whom were bused to the city by out-of-state governors.New York City officials had intended to move forward with at least part of the plan and send “a small number of asylum seekers” to Orange County on Wednesday, Adams spokesperson Fabien Levy said in a statement.But by the end of the day, no migrants had arrived at the hotel, identified b...

Ex-California cheerleading coach charged with molesting girls

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:06 GMT

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A former competitive cheerleading coach has been charged with molesting girls as young as 11 years old in Southern California and he faces similar charges in Florida, prosecutors said Wednesday.Erick Joseph Kristianson, 44, of Antioch, Tennessee, was arrested last week in Fargo, North Dakota, on a warrant, the Orange County district attorney’s office said in a statement.He was extradited back to California and was being held without bail on Wednesday, according to an Orange County Sheriff’s Department website.It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had an attorney to speak on his behalf. A message to the DA’s office asking whether he had counsel wasn’t immediately returned.In California, he is accused of molesting girls ages 11 to 16 while coaching at the Magic All-Stars club, a competitive cheer club, and while he was an assistant cheer coach at Trabuco Hills High School in Mission Viejo in the 2000s, prosecutors said. He is fac...

Juror who listened to conservative podcaster Tim Pool joined verdict against Donald Trump

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:06 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for E. Jean Carroll tried unsuccessfully to get a man booted off the jury that found former President Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse because he occasionally listens to the provocative podcaster Tim Pool, newly unsealed court records revealed Wednesday.The 31-year-old male juror ultimately joined eight other anonymous jurors in delivering a unanimous verdict Tuesday awarding Carroll $5 million in damages, finding that Trump abused the magazine columnist in 1996 at a luxury Manhattan department store.Trump denied ever knowing Carroll and said the encounter at Bergdorf Goodman never happened. The jury rejected Carroll’s claim that she was raped.At one point in the trial, Carroll’s attorneys secretly complained to the judge that the scale might be tipped against their client because Juror No. 77 “was biased in ways requiring his dismissal from the jury.”In a court filing on April 30 that was initially sealed, they noted that the juror, a Bronx man who worke...

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos withdraws from PEN America gala, citing writers strike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:06 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Citing the current Hollywood writers strike, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos will not be attending next week’s PEN America Gala in Manhattan, when he was to accept a Business Visionary Award. PEN America responded by withdrawing the honor, saying the winner is expected to accept in person.The Gala, to be held May 14 at the American Museum of Natural History, is one of the year’s literary highlights and will feature the presentation of several awards, including one to “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels for Literary Service.“Given the threat to disrupt this wonderful evening, I thought it was best to pull out so as not to distract from the important work that PEN America does for writers and journalists, as well as the celebration of my friend and personal hero Lorne Michaels,” Sarandos said in a statement released Wednesday by Netflix. “I hope the evening is a great success.”A PEN spokesperson said that no one this year will be given the Bus...

North Carolina governor makes last-minute plea to block new abortion limits

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:06 GMT

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s Democratic governor rallied residents and local doctors Wednesday in Wilmington as part of a last-minute bid to persuade at least one Republican lawmaker to sustain his expected veto of a bill banning most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy.The visit marks the second day of Gov. Roy Cooper’s cross-state campaign to urge the constituents of four GOP state legislators to demand they uphold abortion access after expressing hesitance about further restrictions during their election campaigns last year. Cooper singled out Reps. Tricia Cotham and John Bradford of Mecklenburg County and Rep. Ted Davis and Sen. Michael Lee of New Hanover County after Republicans fast-tracked legislation last week to impose more stringent limits beyond the current 20 weeks. He plans to veto the bill Saturday at a rally in Raleigh, but party-line votes for passage and assurances from legislative leaders indicate it will likely be overridden. Flanked by h...

‘High dosage tutoring’ helps close the COVID learning gap in Chicago Public Schools

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:06 GMT

CHICAGO — At Moos Elementary School in Humboldt Park, Chicago Public Schools students are learning the standard subjects like reading and arithmetic. But, they’re also learning the difference between something that’s gone, and something that’s gone missing.“They missed like two years,” said Tabarak Abdulkareem, a CPS math tutor. “Those are really major years for them to learn, especially in math and reading. But those gaps are really large at this point. This is why like tutors are needed to fill those gaps up for the students.”She’s talking about the learning gaps created by the pandemic, when the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe closing restaurants, businesses, theatres, and schools. For more Cover Story content, click here Third grader Yadiel Ulloa remembers feeling scared and isolated.  “We (could not) go to school,” he said. “There (were) a lot of people dying. And it was a bunch of people's family members. It was sad.”Young students suddenly saw their living ro...

MedWatch Daily Digest: Over the counter birth control pill, body weight & colon cancer, menthol may sharpen the mind

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:06 GMT

For Wednesday, May 10, WGN’s Medical Reporter Dina Bair has the latest on new information including the following: More Coverage: WGN's Medical Watch An FDA advisory panel gives the nod for over the counter birth control pillBody weight may have an impact on the development of colon cancerInhaling menthol wakes people up and it may sharpen the mind

Trump won't commit to accepting 2024 election results

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:06 GMT

Former President Trump on Wednesday refused to commit to accepting the results of the 2024 presidential election during a CNN town hall.Moderator Kaitlan Collins asked Trump if he would commit to accepting the results, after he spent much of the evening railing against what he's called a "rigged" 2020 election that resulted in his loss. Trump said he would only accept the 2024 results if he believes no voter fraud occurred."Yeah, if I think it's an honest election, absolutely," he said.Collins pressed Trump on if he would accept the results regardless of the outcome, but Trump reiterated his statement."If I think it's an honest election, I would be honored to," he said.DEVELOPING

St. Louis man says airline lost prosthetic leg, won’t reimburse him

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:06 GMT

ST. LOUIS (KTVI) - “Dealing with a prosthetic leg is not as easy as people think it is,” Michael Williams, a St. Louis resident, told Nexstar's KTVI. He said dealing with an airline that lost your prosthetic leg is even harder.“You can’t do this to somebody that’s disabled. Just say, 'Hey, we lost something of yours, but we’re not going to pay for it,'” Williams said.But that’s what he said American Airlines told him. This all started in 2020. Williams was flying from Indianapolis to Charlotte on his way home to St. Louis. ‘Unacceptable’: Video of TSA worker’s handling of bomb dog draws outrage “The special-made leg, I put it in my suitcase. I put the sticker on it that says 'fragile,'" he explained. "I gave it to the young lady at American Airlines when I was checking in. When I get to St. Louis airport, they roll me downstairs to baggage claim. I’m sitting there waiting for my luggage to come off, and never comes off.”Williams said he followed all of American Airlines' delayed o...

Trump calls overturning Roe 'a great victory,' dodges on federal abortion ban

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:06 GMT

Former President Trump called the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade "a great victory" but did not say whether he would support a federal ban on abortion if he's elected again. "It was such a great victory and people are starting to understand it now," Trump said of the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which struck down the 1973 decision protecting abortion rights, when asked at a CNN town hall on Wednesday how he would appeal to female voters in 2024. "You know that they wanted to bring it back to the states but that was probably the least important part of that victory," Trump continued. "Getting rid of Roe v. Wade was an incredible thing for pro-life because it gave pro-life something to negotiate with.""For 50 years this has been going on," Trump added. "I was able to do it and I was very honored to do it." Trump went on to note his support for legal exceptions to have an abortion including rape, incest, and when the life of the mother is in ...