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Mississippi governor’s brother suggested that auditor praise Brett Favre during welfare scandal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:30 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — As Brett Favre became ensnared in media attention for his connection to Mississippi’s sprawling welfare scandal, Gov. Tate Reeves’ brother suggested the state official investigating the case praise the retired NFL quarterback. Screen shots of text messages released Thursday by Reeves’ re-election campaign show the governor’s brother, Todd Reeves, passing along a request from Favre to Mississippi State Auditor Shad White for a favorable statement about the retired star athlete. Todd Reeves texted White on May 6, 2020, months after the auditor announced in February that criminal charges were brought against six people accused of diverting welfare money intended for some of the poorest people in the nation to the rich and powerful. Favre has not been charged with a crime. But he has said the media “ unjustly smeared ” him in coverage of the scandal, including about payments he received to help fund his pet project — a volleyball arena at the univ...

Police search for suspect who shot and wounded person at Indiana shopping mall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:30 GMT

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — A person was shot and wounded Friday inside a shopping mall in northeastern Indiana following an altercation, and officers were searching for the suspect, police said. Officers were called about noon to Glenbrook Square Mall, where they found a male who had been struck in the leg by gunfire near a mall fountain, said Fort Wayne police spokesman Officer Daniel Nerzig.He said the wounded person was taken to a hospital in stable condition and officers were searching for the suspect in the shooting, which he said led to mall to close for the remainder of the day.“At this time we have a person of interest that we are seeking. However, we do not have all the details as to the why and how. All we know at this point is that there was some sort of altercation,” he told reporters outside the mall.Nerzig said the person who was shot has not been “as forthcoming with information as we would like him to be” and officers were reviewing surveillance video from inside ...

Medicines360’s long and winding, $82 million road to create and distribute $50 birth control

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:30 GMT

Drugs and medical devices rarely come from the nonprofit world. There are more than 2,600 for-profit pharmaceutical companies in the United States, but only three nonprofits have products on the American market.One of them is Medicines360, which in 2015 became the first nonprofit to introduce a medical device — an IUD. The genesis of the device came from an anonymous foundation that saw one of the most effective and reversible birth-control methods, the hormonal IUD, was too expensive for most women. Even insured women could be billed copays of up to $1,000.In 2008, the foundation (which Bloomberg reported was the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation) partnered with pharmaceutical scientist and MacArthur fellow Victoria Hale and decided to make a six-year, $82.2 million investment to develop a low-cost hormonal IUD through a nonprofit company.“The real goal of the donor and of Medicines360 was to provide this product to safety net clinics at a very, very affordable price,” said Medicin...

An explosion in Ecuador is seen as gangs asserting power after inmates take hostages and free some

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:30 GMT

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Criminal groups in Ecuador used explosives to damage a bridge in Ecuador on Friday, authorities said, demonstrating their grip on a South American country where prison inmates took dozens of law enforcement officers hostage less than two days earlier. Government officials described the violent acts as the response of criminal groups with a significant prison presence to inmate relocations, weapon seizures and other steps authorities took to try to regain control of several large correctional facilities.Four car bombs and three explosive devices went off across the country in less than 48 hours. The latest explosion with dynamite happened early Friday on a bridge linking two cities in the coastal province of El Oro, National Police commander Luis García told The Associated Press.Hours earlier, a domestic gas tank with wads of dynamite attached exploded under a different bridge in Napo province of Napo, located within Ecuador’s portion of the Amazon rainfor...

Bosnian Serbs stage protests in support of their separatist leader

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:30 GMT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Hundreds of Bosnian Serbs waved flags of Serbia and Russia and banners of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday as they staged a protest in support of their separatist leader who seeks union with neighboring Serbia. The protests were held at the unmarked internal border in Bosnia that separates the country into two entities — the Bosnian Serb Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat federation — as called for under the U.S.-mediated peace deal that ended the country’s 1992-95 war.The Serb protesters chanted slogans against Bosnia being a single state. They briefly blocked traffic between the two entities, but there were no major incidents reported.“We were always on the side of winners,” said Ljubisa Cosic, a Bosnia Serb official. “We were always on the side of freedom. So our connection to the Russian Federation and Russian people is great.”Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik, who has close ties to Putin, has openly been striving to separate ...

Two men wanted in theft of 4-month-old puppy from Rexdale home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:30 GMT

Police are searching for two suspects who stole a puppy during a robbery at a Rexdale home.Investigators were called to a home in the Islington Avenue and Elmhurst Drive area just before 4:30 p.m. on August 31 for reports of a break-and-enter.Police say the two male suspects made off with a 4-month-old beige Micro American Bulldog puppy as well as several pieces of jewelry.The first man was last seen wearing a grey Nike hooded sweater, grey track pants, white shoes, yellow/white gloves and a black face mask.The second man was last seen wearing a black hooded sweater, grey tack pants, black shoes, one white and one black glove and a black face mask.Both were last seen fleeing the area in a black, four-door Hyundai sedan.Photos of two men wanted in connection with the theft of a 4-month old puppy from a Rexdale home on August 31, 2023. TPS/HOPhoto of car used by suspects to flee scene of a break-and-enter in Rexdale on August 31, 2023. TPS/HO

Gasoline prices up from a year ago as drivers head into holiday weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:30 GMT

CALGARY — As crude oil prices hit a twelve-month high on Friday, Canadians planning to hit the road for the last long weekend of summer will pay more for gasoline than they did last Labour Day.The national average gasoline price as of Friday was $1.67 cents per litre, according to fuel price tracking website GasBuddy.com. That compares with $1.37 cents per litre on Sept. 1, 2022.Gasoline prices began to rise in July and August of this year, in part due to crude oil production cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia. Crude oil prices continued their rise this week, due to dwindling crude inventories in the U.S. as well as projections that Saudi Arabia will extend its supply cuts into October.  On Friday, the benchmark crude price West Texas Intermediate hit a 12-month high, trading above US$85 per barrel compared to about US$75 per barrel one year ago.Vijay Muralidharan, energy analyst and managing director with R Cube Consulting Inc., said driving demand through the summer months has been s...

Chicago Football Classic makes its return this weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:30 GMT

CHICAGO — After four years, a college football tradition in Chicago that also features many events off the field is ready to return.That happens this weekend, and the celebration was underway on Friday.The Chicago Football Classic will be played this Saturday at Soldier Field as Central State University will face Mississippi Valley State University at 3 p.m. You can watch the game on WGN-TV, Channel 9. Organizers are celebrating the 25 anniversary of the contest that features two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) as it returns for the first time since 2019. On Friday, organizers of the event along with a number of local politicians gathered for a kickoff celebration at Soldier Field. What the 2023 Chicago Football Classic means to those who created it Started in 1997 by Larry Huggins, Everett Rand and Tim Rand, it's an game that was created to bring more exposure to HBCUs in Chicago. While the showcase event is the football contest, there are numerous events tha...

State of Texas preview: Outside influence ahead of Paxton impeachment trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:30 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — People are used to tuning in every Sunday morning to hear in-depth analysis on that week’s biggest political news during the “State of Texas” program, and now they have a chance to find out ahead of time what that award-winning coverage will include.KXAN Live anchor Will DuPree will lead a conversation Friday at 4 p.m. with a member of the KXAN politics team to preview the stories that will serve as the focus on that week’s show. The second edition of this live stream will include Capitol correspondent Ryan Chandler. Watch the live stream in this story and on the station's Facebook page. State of Texas preview: New Paxton impeachment documents, SB 14 lawsuit ruling expected During the show, Will and Ryan will discuss the following headlines:The impeachment trial for suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton will begin next week in the Texas Senate. The Republican official is facing 20 articles of impeachment approved by the Texas House of Representatives earlier ...

DKR Stadium adds AI-powered self-checkout concession stands

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:30 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Football season is about to kick off once again, and fans will be flooding DKR Stadium to watch the Longhorns play. One thing the stadium has done to prepare for an influx of people is add an AI-powered self-checkout concessions option. Mashgin, the world’s fastest touchless self-checkout system, deployed of 14 self-checkout kiosks by Sodexo, DKR's concessions partner, at the stadium. VIDEO: UT unveils new burnt orange stadium lights The new point-of-sale, touchless self-checkout kiosks have already sped up concession checkouts at six locations across the stadium, according to a release from Mashgin. Sodexo plans to add 22 more of the kiosks for the upcoming 2023 football season.Fans can now buy food, soft drinks, beer and more, check out in 12.5 seconds on average at the kiosks, according to Mashgin. Mashgin kiosks have been deployed at several Texas Athletics venues managed by Sodexo, which include DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, UFCU Disch-Falk Field, Red and Char...