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Future of Pride event in Massachusetts town still uncertain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:27 GMT

The future of a Pride event that included a drag show in a small Massachusetts town remains up in the air after town officials held another vote on whether to allow the event, then said that their permission is not actually required.The North Brookfield select board voted Tuesday night to rescind a previous vote to deny a permit for the Rural Justice Network’s “Small Town Pride Day” on the town common in June because it included a drag show, which two members of the three-member board said violated restrictions on “adult entertainment.”The board then immediately took another vote, with one member approving the event and two abstaining, meaning the motion failed.But according to board Chair Jason Petraitis, one of the two members who abstained and who has in the past expressed opposition to a drag show, the organizers of the event don’t need town permission.“It’s a public common, and we can’t deny them access. But we disagreed with them having the drag s...

Man sentenced to life in death of NYC ambulance driver

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:27 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A 31-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Wednesday for killing a New York City emergency medical technician by running her over with her own ambulance.Jose Gonzalez was convicted of first-degree murder last month in the March 2017 murder of Yadira Arroyo, a 14-year Fire Department veteran and mother of five, in the Bronx.Prosecutors said the fatal encounter started when Gonzalez grabbed the back of Arroyo’s ambulance and rode on it, then jumped off and stole a man’s backpack.The robbery victim flagged down the ambulance and Arroyo got out and spoke briefly to Gonzalez, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said.Gonzalez then jumped into the driver’s seat of the ambulance, backed up over Arroyo and drove forward, dragging her across an intersection, Clark said. Arroyo was pronounced dead at a hospital.The case against Gonzalez was delayed by psychiatric evaluations to determine his fitness to stand trial. He was convicted on...

Fox to hand over documents for 2nd voting machine lawsuit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:27 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News agreed Wednesday to hand over thousands of documents to voting machine company Smartmatic, which is suing the network for defamation in a case similar to Dominion Voting Machines’ just-settled lawsuit.Smartmatic says Fox bears financial responsibility for airing false allegations that the company rigged the 2020 presidential election against former President Donald Trump. Last week, Fox agreed to pay Dominion nearly $800 million to avert a trial, although the ultimate cost to the media company is likely to be much lower. Smartmatic wants a $2.7 billion judgment, which far exceeds the $1.6 billion Dominion sought in its suit. No date has been set and the case might not go to court for a couple of years. Smartmatic said in court filings that Fox “slow-rolled its production” of transcripts and other material that were created during the Dominion suit, and that Smartmatic had received just a small fraction of the more than 52,000 documents it requested as ...

Transgender Montana lawmaker Zooey Zephyr says she is defending LGBTQ+ community as House decides whether to punish her

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:27 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Transgender Montana lawmaker Zooey Zephyr says she is defending LGBTQ+ community as House decides whether to punish her.Source

Montana lawmakers start discussing whether transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr should be censured

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:27 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana lawmakers start discussing whether transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr should be censured.Source

Queen’s and KHSC to launch clinical trials with psilocybin

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:27 GMT

Queen’s University and KHSC are officially set to get involved in the growing field of psychedelic research. Work is underway recruiting and screening potential participants for Phase 2b clinical trials on the efficacy and safety of psilocybin-assisted therapy for the treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD).Participants will be taken through motivational enhancement therapy with psilocybin being used to essentially open their consciousness and maximize the effects of psychotherapy.Dr. Claudio Soares, psychiatry professor and chair of the Psychedelic Science Advisory Committee for the Dimensions Health Research Collaborative, says there’s still a lot of work to be done even throughout the recruiting phase.Dr. Soares says participants need to be excessive drinkers but otherwise be in good health with relatively stable housing and access to phone and internet – not necessarily a wide group to draw from.“It’s not a population that’s easy to be found,&...

Man guilty of murder in deadly road rage shooting that killed 13-year-old

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:27 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Jeremy Webster, a man accused of opening fire on a family and killing a 13-year-old boy in June 2018 was found guilty on all charges Wednesday.Vaughn Bigelow Jr., 13, was killed.Webster, 27, was charged with murder, multiple counts of attempted murder, multiple counts of assault and attempted assault.Vaughn's mother, Meghan, took the stand on the first day of trial and said the incident started when she was driving her three boys to the dentist's office.She testified when she tried to move into another lane of traffic to allow an emergency vehicle to pass that Webster became enraged that she had cut him off. Psychologist says man charged in road rage killing was sane Meghan told the jury that he screamed obscenities at her and followed her into the dentist's parking lot.In the parking lot, Meghan said Webster pulled out a gun and shot at her and the children. “I yelled to the boys he’s got a gun, run,” she testified. She did everything to lead Webster away from he...

Suspected car thief who led police on cross-county chase captured south of Sunrise Blvd.; second suspected car thief still at large

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:27 GMT

A suspected car thief is now in custody after leading police on a cross-county chase. Miami-Dade Police officers and Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies joined forces in the pursuit of a stolen red Mercedes-Benz G Wagon heading northbound on Interstate 75, which crossed into Broward County, Wednesday afternoon. The pursuit started in Miami-Dade County, where two cars were reported stolen from a residence in the South West Miami-Dade.A second vehicle was stolen in South Dade and the thief who stole it are still at large. According to police, the victim was pursuing the other suspected car thief in another car when he contacted police about the thefts. Toward the end of the chase, the G Wagon exited on Sunrise Boulevard and the driver fled on foot towards an apartment building complext on Northwest 12th Avenue and 77th Street in Fort Lauderdale.7Skyforce hovered over the scene where officers with police dogs entered the building and captured the suspect. Charges for the captured ...

Police: Suspect connected to double shooting at Hallandale Beach hotel dead of self-inflicted gunshot wound

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:27 GMT

A man connected to a double shooting at a Hallandale Beach hotel was found dead in Plantation of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.Plantation Police responded to the shooting along the 800 block of Cleary Boulevard, near Pine Island Road, at around 12:45 p.m., Wednesday. According to investigators, the U.S. Marshals’ Fugitive Task Force was tracking a homicide suspect in the Plantation area. Working with Hallandale Beach Police, marshals saw the man getting into a rideshare vehicle and conducted a traffic stop.Speaking during a news conference, Hallandale Police Capt. Pedro Abut described what happened next.“He was observed getting into a vehicle, and as he drove off, task force officers, as well as detectives from the Hallandale Beach Police Department, attempted to stop the vehicle,” said Abut. “When the vehicle stopped, as officers, detectives, task [force] officers approached, when they reached the window of the car, the suspect is located decea...

As Israel celebrates its 75th anniversary, antisemitism rises abroad and in South Florida

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:27 GMT

There was a touching sky-high tribute marking Israel’s 75 years of Independence. As several Jews express their joy over their nation’s independence, Israel is going through a tumultuous time politically. There are several protests over a proposal dealing with judicial reform. But Wednesday night was when several people came together just to celebrate their unity. “A modern state. Powerful, flying F-35s and F-16s, you know, being able to defend itself,” Ike Fisher said. “I don’t think they can possibly imagine it.”Fisher said that Wednesday was a day that would have been unfathomable to his aunts, Sarah, her son Issac, Esther, Leah and Pesha, who lived and died in what is present-day Ukraine.“You had Germans coming across and just wiping out people in front of pits using machine guns and putting them into back of vans and gassing them,” Fisher said.No one knows exactly what happened to the family, but Fisher’s father, Ashe...