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Veterans testify of ‘catastrophic’ impact of Afghan collapse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Active-service members and veterans provided first-hand testimony Wednesday about the implications of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, describing in harrowing and explicit detail the trauma experienced on the ground while imploring Congress to help the allies left behind. The initial hearing of a long-promised investigation by House Republicans displayed the open wounds from the end of America’s longest war in August 2021, with witnesses recalling how they saw mothers carrying dead babies and the Taliban shooting and brutally beating people. Former Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews testified to Congress about the stench of human flesh under a large plume of smoke as the screams of children, women and men filled the space around Kabul’s airport after two suicide bombers attacked crowds of Afghans. “I see the faces of all of those we could not save, those we left behind,” Vargas-Andrews, who wore a prosthetic arm and scars of his own grave wounds from the...

Michigan Democrats move quickly to repeal right-to-work

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s Democratic-led Legislature moved Wednesday to repeal the state’s “right-to-work” law that was passed more than a decade ago when Republicans controlled the Statehouse.Repealing the law, which prohibits public and private unions from requiring that nonunion employees pay union dues even if the union bargains on their behalf, has been a top priority for Democrats since they took full control of the state government this year. Party leaders announced Tuesday that they planned bring the repeal to a vote in the state House on Wednesday.The state House is also expected to vote Wednesday on restoring the state’s prevailing wage law, which requires contractors hired for state projects to pay union-level wages. The House Labor Committee advanced the bills early Wednesday along party lines.Supporters and opponents of the bills packed the main committee room and three overflow areas. The committee allowed just over an hour of testimony, predom...

Kentucky lawmakers advance bill to legalize sports wagering

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Supporters of legalizing sports wagering in Kentucky cleared a first hurdle Wednesday, winning approval from a House panel in their latest quest to regulate and tax the activity.Republican Rep. Michael Meredith, the bill’s lead sponsor, said it’s aimed at “taking an industry that exists in darkness and in the shadows and legitimizing it, legalizing it and regulating it.”The measure won strong bipartisan support in sailing through the House Licensing, Occupations and Administrative Regulations Committee. It represented the bill’s first sign of progress, coming on the 22nd day of this year’s 30-day legislative session.Past efforts to legalize sports betting in the Bluegrass State garnered House support but died in the Senate. It’s a reflection of how divisive gambling is in the state that’s home to Churchill Downs, where the Kentucky Derby is run. Republicans have supermajorities in both chambers.David Walls, executive director of Th...

DeSantis’ new Disney World board hints at future controversy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The first meeting of the new board of Walt Disney World’s government — overhauled by sweeping legislation signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis as punishment for Disney publicly challenging Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill — dealt with the rote affairs any other municipal government would handle: calls for better firefighter equipment, lessons on public records requests and bond ratings.But the five board members appointed by DeSantis hinted Wednesday at future controversial actions they may take, including prohibiting COVID-19 restrictions at Disney World and recommending the elimination of two cities that were created after the Florida Legislature in 1967 approved the theme park resort’s self-governance.The board also approved hiring the same law firm that advised the governor’s office in making changes to the governing district to help interpret the new legislation.For the most part, the new board members listened in a hote...

As bourbon booms, thirst for rare brands breeds skullduggery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Buttery, smooth, oaky. These are characteristics of the best bourbons, and a growing cult of aficionados is willing to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars to get their hands on scarce American spirits — and even bend or break laws.The first challenge is figuring out which liquor stores have these premium bottles on their shelves – and that’s where inside knowledge can give bourbon hunters a leg up, and potentially get them into legal trouble.In Oregon, several high-ranking officials at the state’s liquor regulating agency are under criminal investigation after an internal probe found they used their influence to obtain scarce bourbons. That included the holy grail for bourbon fanatics: Pappy Van Winkle 23-year-old, which can sell for tens of thousands of dollars on resale markets. Top-end bourbons have found themselves at the center of criminal investigations in at least three other states, from Virginia to Pennsylvania to Kentucky.Premium spirits were alway...

Pennsylvania lawmaker quits amid sex harassment allegations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania state lawmaker submitted his resignation letter Wednesday, a week after a union lobbyist accused him by name of having sexually harassed her four years ago.Democratic Rep. Mike Zabel of Delaware County said in the letter to Democratic Speaker Joanna McClinton that his resignation will take effect March 16, leaving enough time for her to order that the vacancy be filled during the May primary.“The toll is just too great on my family, and was too detrimental to my well-being. I need to focus on what matters,” Zabel said in a brief phone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, shortly before sending the resignation letter. McClinton and other Democratic leaders issued a statement saying he had “chosen to do what is best for his family, the people he represents, and the state House of Representatives.” His district office will remain open, they said.“Allegations of this nature are impossible to litigate in a public forum,” Zabel wrote in a...

Gun dealer to pay $150K to Kansas City to settle suit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City has reached a settlement with one of the gun dealers it accused in a lawsuit of contributing to surging violence in the region by ignoring evidence that firearms were being sold illegally.Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said in a statement Wednesday that the settlement is “an important step in reducing the flow of illegal guns into our city.”The lawsuit filed in 2020 alleged that gun trafficking creates a public nuisance in Kansas City, which has one of the highest homicide rates in the U.S.The city was joined in the lawsuit by gun safety advocates Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, which touted the suit as the first of its kind against the gun industry in more than a decade.Under the settlement, CR Sales Firearms in Independence will be required to pay $150,000 in damages to the city through its insurer. It also will face extra monitoring and be required to train staff on how to identify a straw purchase, which is when someone who can legally...

Ford government looking ‘closely’ at B.C.’s free prescription contraception plan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

Ontario’s health minister says the province is looking “closely” at British Columbia’s plan to make prescription contraception free.B.C. announced in its budget last week that it would spend $119 million over three years to fund prescription contraception.That will include most oral hormone pills, contraceptive injections, copper and hormonal intrauterine devices and subdermal implants, along with so-called Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill.The Opposition NDP in Ontario asked Health Minister Sylvia Jones Wednesday if the province will follow suit and Jones said she is “looking closely” at what B.C. has proposed.The NDP proposed having prescription contraception covered by the provincial health plan OHIP in last year’s election and says it would be one way to make life more affordable.Jill Andrew, the party’s critic for women’s social and economic opportunity, says it’s vital to lowering barriers to reproductive h...

Maine South HS football forced to forfeit wins

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

PARK RIDGE, Ill. -- Maine South High School in Park Ridge is being forced by the governing body of Illinois prep sports to vacate their victories from last season.On Wednesday, the Illinois High School Athletic Association announced that Maine South will be forced to forfeit all nine victories from their 2022 season due to the use of ineligible players.A joint investigation between the IHSA, Maine South, and Maine Township High School District 2017 determined that a number of players didn't reside in the school's attendance area during last season. This is a violation of IHSA bylaw 3.030 and resulted in the forfeits. See the IHSA Football State Finals results for the Chicagoland area Along with that punishment, the Hawks' football program will also be put on probation for the 2023 season as well, with further violations potentially leading to a postseason ban. Maine South went 7-2 last fall and won two Class 8A playoff games before being eliminated in the third round by Glenbard W...

WATCH LIVE | Investigation into Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office: Update by the special prosecutor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

COOK COUNTY, Ill. — A special prosecutor is set to provide an update on his investigation into misconduct within Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office.Lawrence Oliver was appointed to the position in July 2021 after a county prosecutor admitted to having a relationship with a key witness in a case.The judge who ordered the special prosecutor said there’s sufficient evidence that attorney committed perjury and others in the state’s attorney’s office may have covered for him. Read more on what led to the special prosecutor appointment This was the second special prosecutor appointed to investigate Kim Foxx’s office in about two years. The last one found abuses of discretion in the Jussie Smollett case.Olive is scheduled to "provide a public update in the matter of his July 28, 2021 appointment, involving issues arising out of the 2020 criminal trial of Jackie Wilson" at 2 p.m. Wednesday. WGN plans to livestream the event in its entirety within this story.