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Justice Department drops inquiry into claims of discrimination in Everett

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:50:35 GMT

The U.S. Attorney’s office for Massachusetts has dropped its inquiry into the City of Everett, which had lasted more than a year.“On June 2, 2022, the United States Attorney’s Office opened a preliminary inquiry of the City of Everett in response to multiple allegations of racial discrimination, gender discrimination, and sexual harassment by City employees. As was discussed … we are closing that preliminary inquiry,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Annapurna Balakrishna and Anuj Khetarpal wrote.“The closure of our inquiry has no impact on any claims that have been or may be filed with any state or federal court or administrative agency,” the letter continued in its sole remaining paragraph.The inquiry compelled city information that the U.S. Attorney’s office under then-U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins alleged Title VII violations related to potential discrimination, harassment, hostile environment, or retaliation by city employees or officials.In response to the closing of the inquiry...

Local restaurant collecting donations for Maui fire victims

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:50:35 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- “It's very devastating. It's really heartbreaking with what's happening," said Andy Mangiduyos, who is closely following the Maui fires which have swept through his hometown of Lahaina.The owner and chef at Kalei’s Kitchenette in Rancho Peñasquitos, Mangiduyos has juggled running his business while trying to get updates from home.He says when the fires first broke out, he was unable to reach anyone. How San Diegans can help those affected by Maui wildfires “So basically, no power, no cell phone towers, no Wi-Fi or anything," he said.But Wednesday, Mangiduyos got a call from his siblings who had to evacuate, saying the family’s home had burned down.“They said, 'we're OK, we're fine, the kids are fine -- but the house is not there anymore,'" said Mangiduyos.He then had to break the news to his parents, who are on vacation in the Philippines. PHOTOS: Fires wreak havoc on Maui, historic Lahaina in flames “Calling them up and saying that, 'hey, you guys gotta extend vaca...

Cases against 146 Fairy Creek logging protesters are dropped after high court ruling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:50:35 GMT

OTTAWA — The BC Prosecution Service says it’s dropping 146 cases against old-growth logging protesters after Canada’s highest court refused to hear an appeal against the acquittal of a demonstrator who had been cleared of criminal contempt. The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal application from the B.C. Crown and awarded costs to protester Ryan Henderson. In light of that decision, the cases against other people who took part in the Fairy Creek blockade on southern Vancouver Island have been withdrawn. Prosecution service spokesman Dan McLaughlin says there was no substantial likelihood of convicting the other protesters accused of violating a court injunction at Fairy Creek, and the matters are now concluded. Henderson was cleared of contempt in February when B.C. Supreme Court Justice Douglas Thompson found RCMP officers only read a shortened version of the injunction to hundreds of protesters, including Henderson, who were arrested at the Fairy Creek blocka...

Las Vegas food service workers demanding better pay and benefits rally on the Strip

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:50:35 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Food service workers at a Las Vegas Strip arena demanding higher pay and better benefits rallied Thursday evening beneath the glittery lights of the famed tourist corridor to bring attention to their ongoing negotiations for a union contract.The Culinary Workers Union, a political powerhouse in Nevada, said in a statement ahead of the rally that servers, dishwashers, cooks and bartenders who work at T-Mobile Arena have been locked in contract negotiations for nearly a year with their employer, Levy Premium Food Service. The workers say they want a fair contract that will ensure “one job is enough to provide for their families.”The union represents 60,000 hospitality workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including 200 Levy employees who work at the arena, the home stadium of the Vegas Golden Knights.More than 1,000 union members — most of them dressed in red — packed the walkways near the arena on Thursday, with the crowd spilling onto Las Vegas Boulevard. The action comes ...

Police videos show SWAT officers detaining man, woman during home raid in Tupac Shakur cold case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:50:35 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Police lapel videos captured the moments a couple was detained by Las Vegas SWAT officers during a nighttime raid at a home in July in connection with the cold case killing of rapper Tupac Shakur. The 24 heavily redacted videos obtained Thursday by The Associated Press do not provide a view into the home or identify the couple, whose faces were blurred from view as the officers shouted commands to “come out with your hands up and your hands empty!”But a copy of the warrant said police were searching on the night of July 17 for items “concerning the murder” of Shakur from Duane “Keffe D” Davis, one of the last surviving witnesses to a crime that has fascinated the public for decades.Authorities have been tight-lipped about their investigation. Beyond a brief statement released last month confirming their raid in the nearby city of Henderson, they haven’t released any information about the long-dormant case, including why they had obtained a warrant now to colle...

Florida education commissioner skips forum on criticized Black history standards

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:50:35 GMT

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Hundreds of lawmakers, teachers, school board members and parents crowded into a South Florida church Thursday evening for a forum on Florida’s new standards for teaching Black history, which have drawn harsh criticism for requiring teachers to instruct middle-school students that enslaved people “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”But one person who wasn’t in attendance was Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz — the man responsible for overseeing the standards.The former area high school teacher had previously agreed to attend, according to organizers. His participation was advertised on fliers publicizing the event, which was sponsored by Democratic Florida Sen. Shevrin Jones. A chair even was set up on the podium for him with a placard bearing his name.Diaz, a former Florida lawmaker who was appointed commissioner last year by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, said on social media that “t...

Buenos Aires protester dies of heart attack apparently suffered while being detained by police

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:50:35 GMT

A left-wing political activist taking part in a protest days before national primary elections in Argentina died of a heart attack that he suffered while being detained by police Thursday, authorities said.Video posted on social media shows Buenos Aires city police pinning the man face down on the pavement when the person filming starts yelling: “He’s purple! He’s purple! He’s going to suffer an attack. He’s purple!”The video shows officers then turning the unresponsive man over and performing CPR on him before he was taken to a hospital. He later died, the city government said in a statement.“The causes of the death are related to a cardiac arrest resulting from risk factors,” the statement said. It described the man as being “between 40 and 45 years old” but did not name him because he did not have a document on him.Police detained the man and several others around the capital’s iconic Obelisk as they tried to disperse the protest that had been called by several left-wing groups.T...

Investigators say miscommunication between pilots caused United plane to drop near ocean’s surface

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:50:35 GMT

Federal investigators said Thursday that miscommunication between pilots led to a United Airlines jet diving within 748 feet (228 meters) of the ocean’s surface shortly after takeoff from Hawaii in December.The National Transportation Safety Board said in a final report that the crew failed to manage the plane’s vertical path, airspeed and nose direction after the mix-up between the captain and co-pilot.After a normal takeoff during heavy rain at Kahului Airport on the island of Maui, the captain asked the co-pilot, or first officer, to reset the wing flaps, but the co-pilot heard “15” instead of “five,” according to the NTSB. Soon the pilots realized that the plane was pitched downward and accelerating. “At this point I knew the captain was having difficulty with airspeed control … I couldn’t be certain what the captain was dealing with,” the co-pilot later told investigators. The plane’s nose continued to pitch down, and the co-pilot saw through the w...

Chinese-Australian journalist jailed in China on spying charges describes harsh conditions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:50:35 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese-Australian journalist who worked for China’s state broadcaster and was convicted on murky espionage charges has spoken out about the harsh conditions of her detention. Cheng Lei has been held for three years, and although found guilty on national security charges at a closed-door trial last year, has yet to be sentenced. She is allowed to stand in the sunlight for only 10 hours a year, hasn’t seen a tree since she was detained, and deeply misses her daughter and son, now entering high school, Cheng said in a statement conveyed to an Australian diplomat and released to local media. “I relive every bushwalk, river, lake, beach with swims and picnics and psychedelic sunsets, sky that is lit up with stars, and the silent and secret symphony of the bush,” Cheng said in the statement read by her partner Nick Coyle on the Australian Broadcasting Corp.“I secretly mouth the names of places I’ve visited and driven through,” Cheng said. “It is the Chinese in me t...

Sentence is cut for trans youth’s father who discussed treatment against court order

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:50:35 GMT

VANCOUVER — The British Columbia Court of Appeal has struck down a six-month prison sentence for a trans youth’s father who was convicted of contempt for publicly discussing his child’s private medical details in breach of a court order.Instead, the appeal court sentenced the man to time served, effectively amounting to 45 days, according to the ruling released on Wednesday.The youth had taken his father to court to stop him from giving media interviews in which he identified his child and discussed their medical treatment for gender dysphoria, as well as the father’s objections to the process.The father pleaded guilty to contempt, but his lawyer advised him to reject an offer to make a deal with the Crown for 45 days of imprisonment, and he was instead sentenced to six months.The three-judge appeal panel found the man’s lawyer provided ineffective assistance by not recognizing the prosecutors’ deal would have seen his client released upon his guilty pl...