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Minnesota governor names first Black chief justice of state Supreme Court, Natalie Hudson

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday promoted Natalie Hudson to become chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court this fall, which will make her the first person of color to lead it.Hudson, who is Black, has been an associate justice since 2015. She will lead the high court when current Chief Justice Lorie Gildea retires in October.“Justice Hudson is one of our state’s most experienced jurists. She has a strong reputation as a leader and consensus builder,” Walz said in a statement. “I am confident that she will advance a vision that promotes fairness and upholds the dignity of all Minnesotans.”The appointment will leave only one Republican-appointed justice but isn’t expected to affect the ideological balance of what court watchers celebrate as a nonpartisan court, especially compared with neighboring Wisconsin’s divided state Supreme Court and an increasingly conservative U.S. Supreme Court.Governors appoint judges in Minnesota without legislative confirmation. A Democr...

Gunfire in Pittsburgh neighborhood prompts evacuations, draws large police response

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Authorities evacuated neighbors from a Pittsburgh neighborhood on Wednesday after someone reportedly facing eviction began firing from inside a home, with witnesses saying they heard what sounded like hundreds of shots fired. The Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office said its people were trying to serve the eviction notice when the occupant began firing in the city’s Garfield neighborhood. Witnesses reported that hours into the siege, more gunfire erupted after what sounded like hundreds of shots earlier. A sergeant leading the eviction notice detail suffered an injury unrelated to gunfire and is doing OK, sheriff’s office spokesman Mike Manko said. A state police spokesperson said drones were being used. A large number of police and other first responders were at the scene.The shooting occurred a few blocks from a children’s hospital.The Associated Press

Ingebrigtsen goes down in another upset, this time to Britain’s Josh Kerr

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Britain’s Josh Kerr pulled off the biggest upset of the world championships Wednesday, outrunning heavily favored Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway to the line for a win in the 1,500 meters.Kerr finished in 3 minutes, 29.28 seconds to join Jake Wightman as the second British runner in two years to upset Ingebrigtsen at worlds.The 22-year-old Norwegian is the Olympic champion and has the fastest times this season. He came in as a 1-7 betting favorite but has yet to cross the line first in the 1,500 at a world-championship meet.This silver goes with the one from last year, along with a second place at indoor world championships in 2022 and at junior worlds in 2018.Ingebrigtsen surged to the lead at about the 500-meter mark and led for the next two laps. But Kerr stayed right on his heels, and with a half-lap to go, he pulled even. Then, he passed and held on for the win by .27 seconds.Kerr added this, his biggest win, to a bronze medal he took in the race Ing...

Union representing World Cup champion kissed by Spanish soccer head demands act not ‘go unpunished’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The players’ union representing the Women’s World Cup winner kissed without her consent by the president of the Spanish soccer federation said Wednesday that his inappropriate act should not go unpunished.Jenni Hermoso, who was kissed forcibly by federation head Luis Rubiales during Sunday’s awards ceremony, said in a statement that the FUTPRO players’ union and her agent would “defend my interests and speak on my behalf.”The union continued the statement by adding: “We are working so that the acts like the ones we witnessed don’t go unpunished, are sanctioned, and that pertinent measures are adopted to protect the soccer players against actions that are unacceptable.”Hermoso, a 33-year-old forward and key player for Spain, had said on a video streamed on social media during a changing room celebration following the 1-0 win over England in Sunday’s final that she “did not like it, but what could I do” about the kiss.In the immediate uproar o...

Montana woman sentenced to life in prison for torturing and killing her 12-year-old grandson

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — A Montana woman who pleaded guilty to torturing and killing her 12-year-old grandson more than three years ago has been sentenced to spend the rest of her life in prison.Patricia Batts, 51, pleaded guilty in May to deliberate homicide in the death of James “Alex” Hurley on Feb. 3, 2020, in West Yellowstone in an agreement reached after prosecutors dropped efforts to seek the death penalty. She was sentenced Tuesday in District Court in Bozeman.“This is a horrific case of child abuse. It was totally unnecessary, and it was done with malevolence,” District Judge John C. Brown said, according to NBC-Montana.Batts also pleaded guilty to felony criminal child endangerment for failing to get medical help for Alex after he was fatally injured, and to witness tampering by trying to get family members to provide false statements to investigators, the Department of Justice has said. Batts received 10-year sentences for each of those charges.Alex had been living with Batt...

Woman, 28, pleads guilty to fatally shoving Broadway singing coach, 87, avoiding long prison stay

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who killed an 87-year-old Broadway singing coach by shoving her onto a Manhattan sidewalk has avoided a lengthy prison sentence by pleading guilty to manslaughter on Wednesday, and will instead serve eight years behind bars.Lauren Pazienza, 28, teared up in court as she admitted randomly attacking Barbara Maier Gustern on March 10, 2022. Gustern, whose students included “Blondie” singer Debbie Harry, lay bleeding on a sidewalk as Pazienza walked away, prosecutors said. She died five days later.“Today’s plea holds Pazienza accountable for her deadly actions,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.Gustern’s relatives, some of whom were in court, said they were disappointed with Pazienza’s plea deal and agreed-upon prison sentence — a fraction of the maximum 25 years she would’ve faced if convicted at trial.Pazienza’s lawyer Arthur Aidala declined to comment.Pazienza, a former event planner originally from Long Islan...

Theodore Roosevelt presidential library taking shape in North Dakota Badlands

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Construction is underway for the Theodore Roosevelt presidential library planned in the Badlands of western North Dakota, where the 26th president hunted and ranched as a young man in the 1880s.The work began June 15 with removing topsoil for the project’s cut-fill plan. Builders are beginning construction on the library’s east retaining wall, with an initial concrete pour completed Monday, library CEO Ed O’Keefe told The Associated Press on Tuesday.“If you were to come out on site, you’re seeing a sequence that began with the topsoil, started with the east wing, moves to the west wing and then will move back to the east wing,” he said.The project is on a 93-acre site near the venue of the popular Medora Musical and the scenic national park that bears Roosevelt’s name. The sale of 90 acres of U.S. Forest Service land for the project was completed last year, costing $81,000 and covered by the Roosevelt family. Congress approved the land s...

Stock market today: Wall Street rallies as pressure eases from the bond market

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is rallying toward its best day since June on Wednesday as pressure that’s built up on stocks from the bond market relaxed a bit. The S&P 500 was 1.1% higher in late trading, trimming its loss for what’s been a dismal August so far. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 173 points, or 0.5%, at 34,462 with a little less than an hour remaining in trading. The Nasdaq composite jumped 1.7%. Big Tech stocks and others that benefit from easier interest rates led the way. They got some relief as the 10-year Treasury yield eased back further from its highest level since 2007 after a report suggested the U.S. economy may be cooling.A 2.2% gain for Apple’s stock and 1.7% climb for Microsoft shares were two of the strongest forces pushing the S&P 500 upward.Nvidia, another one of the market’s most influential stocks, rose 2.8% ahead of its latest profit report, scheduled to come out after the market closes for the day. It’s a ...

Ontario teachers settle labour complaint, early reading screening tool not mandated

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

Two Ontario teachers’ unions say they have settled unfair labour practice complaints against the government, with the province agreeing not to mandate an early reading screening tool for the upcoming school year.The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) accused the government two weeks ago of failing to bargain in good faith by issuing the new requirement since it is a topic of discussion in negotiations.The four major teachers’ unions have been bargaining for a new contract with the government for more than a year, and three say they are planning strike votes this fall.A new policy announced by Education Minister Stephen Lecce earlier this year would have required teachers to use an early reading screening tool in senior kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2.A joint statement Wednesday from ETFO and OECTA says while they firmly believe that every child has the right to learn to read, thei...

Canada sanctions Russian nuclear sector, assesses reports of Prigozhin death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

Canada is sanctioning more Russians accused of supporting the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, with a focus on banks, defence companies and the nuclear sector.Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is announcing a dealings ban for four Russians and 29 entities, including a rifle company, a shipbuilder and atomic research institutions.The ban targets subsidiaries of Russia’s state atomic energy corporation, known as Rosatom, as well as an export agency that helps sell Russian nuclear technology abroad.Ottawa says the intent is to nudge Russia toward upholding international nuclear-safety standards, given the unclear situation at a major nuclear plant in the Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia, which is occupied by Russian forces.Canada has sanctioned thousands of people and firms it accuses of supporting Russia’s war, although experts say it’s unclear how well Ottawa enforces these sanctions or monitors their effectiveness.Meanwhile, Joly says she’s looking into uncon...