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Maine’s top gambling regulator on paid leave following tweets

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:57 GMT

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine’s top gambling regulator has been placed on paid administrative leave following tweets posted from his personal account about women and a white nationalist group, spokesperson for the state’s Department of Public Safety said Tuesday.Milt Champion, executive director of the Gambling Control Unit, was placed on leave May 17 because of the tweets, Lt. Thomas Pickering, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety, wrote in an email to The Associated Press.Champion’s case is “pending a review that is being conducted by the Bureau of Human Resources,” Pickering wrote. “Given that this is an ongoing, personnel-related matter, the department is unable to comment further.”Messages sent to Champion and members of the Gambling Control Unit were not immediately returned Tuesday. The tweets were sent May 6 and May 14, and had been removed by Tuesday. In one of them, Champion tweeted about being told it was inappropriate to refer to women as “lad...

Drag performers sue southern Utah city over permit denial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:57 GMT

ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) — A Utah-based group that organizes drag performances is suing the small, conservative city of St. George for blocking an event marketed as a show for all ages.Southern Utah Drag Stars and its CEO Mitski Avalōx accuse St. George of “flagrant and ongoing violations of their free speech, due process, and equal protection rights,” said the lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court. They argue that the city invoked an ordinance that had never been enforced in a manner that was selective and discriminatory toward the LGBTQ+ community.“The City has employed its unfettered discretion under the ordinances to discriminatorily enforce them,” the performers and the ACLU argue in the complaint.Drag has been the target of new scrutiny from Republicans throughout the country, including in statehouses where lawmakers have sought bans. The city of St. George said it had not been served with the lawsuit as of Tuesday afternoon and did not have any comment.The Associated Press

Montana first to ban people dressed in drag from reading to children in schools, libraries

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:57 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana has become the first state to specifically ban people dressed in drag from reading books to children at public schools and libraries, part of a host of legislation aimed at the rights the LGBTQ+ community in Montana and other states.“It’s just constitutionally suspect on all levels,” said Sasha Buchert, an attorney with Lambda Legal, a national organization that seeks to protect the civil rights of the LGBTQ+ community and those diagnosed with HIV and AIDS. Buchert said on Tuesday that the bill limits free speech and seeks to chill an effort that helps transgender youth know they are not alone. It’s the first bill the organization knows of that directly bans drag reading events.The bill, which was co-sponsored by more than half of the Republican-controlled legislature, took immediate effect after Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed it on Monday.The bill initially sought to ban minors from attending drag performances, which were defined as s...

Boycotting Oregon GOP senators vow to stay away until last day of session

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:57 GMT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Republican senators whose walkout of the Oregon Senate has prevented a quorum for almost three weeks said Tuesday they’re not coming back until the very last day of the legislative session next month.The walkout, which began on May 3 ostensibly because bill summaries weren’t written at an eighth grade level as required by a long-forgotten law, has derailed progress on hundreds of bills, including a sweeping measure on abortion rights and gender-affirming care that the conservatives particularly object to.An email from Republican leader Sen. Tim Knopp’s office said the Republicans and Independent Sen. Brian Boquist would return on June 25, the end of the legislative session, to pass “bipartisan” budgets and bills.“We are the last line of defense to hold the majority accountable,” Knopp said.The crisis in Oregon’s statehouse is a microcosm of the deeply partisan politics playing out nationwide, including recently in Tennessee and in Montana.R...

What will Minnesota lawmakers do for an encore in 2024 after momentous 2023 legislative session?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:57 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Legislature isn’t scheduled to reconvene until Feb. 12 but with the curtain barely down on the momentous 2023 session there’s already discussion about what lawmakers might do for an encore.Democrats are proud they checked off all of the 30 biggest items on their ambitious agenda before the session adjourned Monday night. Gov. Tim Walz now has a big stack of budget bills that he plans to sign Wednesday.The accomplishments include a $3 billion tax cut bill aimed mostly at families with children that’s partly offset by higher sales and other taxes to support transportation and housing. Paid family and medical leave will make it easier for Minnesotans to take time off to care for loved ones or their own health, but employers will have to pay. State aid for public schools will be indexed to keep pace with inflation. Lawmakers enacted extensive new environmental protections. Recreational marijuana will start becoming legal for adults ...

Skilling: Mild Tuesday night as windy, sunny Wednesday arrives

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:57 GMT

It's been Day #10 of 2023 with a high temp at or above 80 degrees Tuesday—The high of 85 comes in 12 degrees above the normal of 73 degrees.Big changes loom—A strong cold front sweeps across the area, having traveled the length of Lake Michigan, reaching the city proper around 7 a.m. Wednesday morningFronts like this, with a sprawling Canadian high pressure behind it, develop quite a "head of steam" while racing south the length of Lake Michigan. The strong "NNE" winds behind such a front hit fast and hard and promise a Wednesday with gusty NNE winds which will churn Lake Michigan."NNE" wind gusts of 20 to 30 mph are likely Wednesday building waves of 7 to 9 feet. coming into the Chicago shoreline. Small craft advisories kick in at 7 a.m. CDT Wed and run through 7 a.m. Thursday.NNE winds travel over chilly water all 280 miles of Lake Michigan on their way southward which sets up much cooler temps along the lakeshore. While inland highs Wed are to come in 15 to 20 degrees lower than ...

'He was the best in all of us:' Family to establish foundation in memory of son who drowned in Alaska mud flats

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:57 GMT

LAKE BLUFF, Ill. — A Far North Suburban family say they are going to establish a foundation to honor the memory of their son, who died Sunday from drowning after getting trapped in an Alaskan mud flat.Twenty-year-old Zachary Porter, of Lake Bluff, Illinois, was walking on tidal mud flats with friends in an Alaskan estuary when he got stuck up to his waist in a quicksand-like silt and drowned as the tide came in before frantic rescuers could pull him out, authorities said."He was the best in all of us," said Elizabeth Porter, Zachary's sister.Family told WGN that Porter was a young man known for his compassionate heart and concern for others. He was a mentor to local baseball players and those learning how to sail on Lake Michigan, as well as a student enrolled at Washington University, where he majored in Economics with future goals of using his education to help better the lives of others. "Our grief is unspeakable," said Susan Rider, Zachary's mom. "The world lost an incredible hu...

Illinois clergy sex abuse survivor speaks out after AG report: 'I was scared to do anything'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:57 GMT

CHICAGO — It took Jimmy Stevens over 20 years to speak about the abuse he says caused an extreme impact on his mental and emotional health.  At one point, Stevens nearly took his own life. "I went to St. Francis Xavier until sixth grade, where the preschool is at,” said the now 54-year-old. AG report finds nearly 350 Catholic clergy accused of sex abuse not publicly listed by Illinois dioceses Stevens was just a boy when he says his priest sexually abused him at St. Francis Xavier.  "It started in the late 70s,” he said.  The Catholic clergy member is one of 451 who allegedly abused 1,997 children across all six dioceses in Illinois. A lengthy report released by Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Tuesday outlined the four-year investigation that led to the findings. Stevens said his abuse began when he was just 9 or 10 years old and sometimes involved other children. Stevens says the priest warned him not to tell anyone what was happening, threatening that his mother, who worke...

West Virginia fourth grader rescues classmate having seizure during pool trip

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:57 GMT

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — A West Virginia fourth grader is being hailed as a hero after he rescued a classmate who began having a seizure during a recent field trip. Students from Anna Jarvis Elementary School in Grafton, West Virginia were on a field trip to the Mylan Park Aquatics Center last week.Fourth-grade student Mark Vincent told Nexstar's WBOY that while they were enjoying some pool time, he saw his classmate, Rex Crawford, lying in the water showing signs of a seizure. Salmonella outbreak in 6 states linked to Papa Murphy’s cookie dough: CDC “I pulled him next to the [poolside] and an adult lifted him out," Mark said. “It was just a nerve in my body that wanted to go help him. Like, life flashed before my eyes, and I’m thankful God put me there at that hour.”Mark Vincent (WBOY image)Rex Crawford and the toy dinosaur he got for Mark as thanks. (WBOY image)Rex said the experience was "pretty scary," but added it had happened to him before at a different indoor pool. Mar...

Travis County DA urges 70 family violence victims to come forward

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:57 GMT

Editor’s Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for May 23, 2023.AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Travis County District Attorney's office called on more than 70 victims of family violence cases to come forward so it can prosecute those pending cases. In a press conference on Tuesday, José Garza said his office has attempted to make contact with those victims but had been unsuccessful so far. "We have worked hard to prioritize victims of family violence. We want to work hard to earn your trust," he said. Earlier this month, in a one-on-one interview with KXAN investigators, José Garza said these offenses, along with other violent crimes, were the priority for his office but were often some of the "most difficult" cases to prove. Is Travis County DA Garza dropping more felonies? Here’s what the data show During that interview and again during the Tuesday press conference, he provided statistics showing his office had secured more than 400 family violence convictions last ...