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Nevada GOP governor signs transgender health bills while vetoing another, bucking party trends

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:09 GMT

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo signed two bills related to transgender rights and vetoed another, bucking trends from other Republican governors who have pushed anti-transgender rhetoric and policies throughout the country.The former Clark County Sheriff’s signing of a bill on Monday requiring health insurance companies including Medicaid to cover all gender-affirming surgeries was the third major bill related to transgender health and civil rights to reach his desk.Another bill he signed earlier this month requires the states’ Department of Corrections to adopt mental and medical health standards for transgender and gender-nonconforming people inside the state’s prisons, including cultural competency training for guards.Democratic-controlled Legislatures like Nevada’s have moved several bills protecting transgender health care, civil rights and legal protections including a half dozen states from Oregon to Colorado. But Lombardo’s signature comes...

Los Angeles city councilman charged with 10 counts, including embezzlement and perjury

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:09 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors charged a Los Angeles city councilman with 10 counts, including embezzlement and perjury, Tuesday in the latest criminal case to upend the scandal-plagued governing board of the nation’s second-largest city.Curren Price, Jr. faces five counts of embezzlement of government funds, three counts of perjury and two counts of conflict of interest, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The office did not release the criminal complaint or any details about the charges.Price was charged for having a financial interest in projects that he voted on as a council member, and having the city pay nearly $34,000 in medical benefits for his now-wife while he was still married to another woman, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement.Between 2019 and 2021, Price’s wife allegedly received payments totaling more than $150,000 from developers before Price voted to approve projects, according to Gascón’s s...

Costa Rica-US immigration agreement aims to manage region’s flows

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:09 GMT

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Rica and the U.S. government have agreed to open potential legal pathways to the United States for some of the Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants among the 240,000 asylum seekers already awaiting asylum in the Central American country.The agreement – announced by Costa Rica Tuesday and the United States late Monday – appears aimed at reducing the pressure on Costa Rica’s overwhelmed asylum system and heading off asylum seekers who could give up on the slow Costa Rica process and instead set off for the U.S. border.In recent years, Costa Rica with a population of only 5 million has become one of the world’s leading receptors of asylum requests. In part, applying for asylum was a way for migrants to legalize their status and be allowed to seek work.However, a soaring number of applications, largely from migrants fleeing neighboring Nicaragua, created a massive backlog. Last year, Nicaraguans accounted for nine out of 10 applicants.On Tuesday, Public S...

Toronto woman received over $50K in lottery scam that targeted seniors: police

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:09 GMT

A Toronto woman was arrested and charged in a lengthy lottery scam investigation that allegedly targeted seniors in Alberta and Manitoba over a six-month period.Peel Regional Police concluded the investigation on Monday that determined a woman allegedly received over $50,000 from multiple elderly residents.It’s alleged that the victims in different provinces were instructed to send funds via bank transfers after believing they had won a lottery prize. To claim their winnings, they had to pay a fee.Police said they were ordered to send cash and gift cards via postal service to residential addresses in Mississauga, Ont.On Tuesday, 27-year-old Abigail Aseani Lindsay of Toronto was identified. The woman is charged with defrauding the public of over $5,000 and two counts of possession of property obtained by crime.Police said Lindsay was released on an undertaking and will appear in court on July 31, 2023.

Who will replace Pat Sajak on 'Wheel of Fortune'?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:09 GMT

(WJW) – Who will be the next “Wheel of Fortune” host?Pat Sajak, 76, announced Monday he will soon be leaving "Wheel."“Well, the time has come. I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last. It’s been a wonderful ride, and I’ll have more to say in the coming months. Many thanks to you all,” he wrote on Twitter. Pat Sajak's daughter reacts to his announcement That will end his run after the 2023-24 television season. Sajak has been hosting "Wheel of Fortune" since 1981. Vanna White joined him as co-host in 1982.White made her first comments about Sajak’s departure Tuesday.“When we started 'Wheel of Fortune,' who could have imagined we’d still be at it 41 seasons later? I couldn’t be happier to have shared the stage with you for all these years with one more to come. Cheers to you, Pat Sajak!” she wrote on Twitter.FILE - Pat Sajak, left, and Vanna White, from "Wheel of Fortune," attend a ceremony honoring Harry Friedman with a star on the Hollywood Wal...

3 hospitalized, 1 critical after head-on collision in Naperville

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:09 GMT

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- One person was transported to a hospital in critical condition after being involved a multiple vehicle accident in Naperville early Tuesday morning.According to the Naperville Police Department, officers responded to the area near Planfield/Naperville Road and Leverenz Road on reports of a multiple vehicle crash with injuries just after 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Suburban man charged after accidentally shooting himself while dreaming Further investigations showed that a 2015 Ford Escape traveling south on Plainfield/Naperville Road left its lane and crossed into northbound traffic before crashing into two vehicles.Multiple other vehicles became involved with the collision or debris left.Three people were transported to local hospitals. One person is in critical condition.No citations have been issued at this time. The investigation is ongoing.Anyone with information regarding the accident is asked to contact the Naperville Police Department at 630-420-8833.

The Beatles are releasing their 'final' record, with the help of AI

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:09 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Artificial intelligence has been used to extract John Lennon's voice from an old demo to create “the last Beatles record,” decades after the band broke up, Paul McCartney said Tuesday.McCartney, 80, told the BBC that the technology was used to separate the Beatles' voices from background sounds during the making of director Peter Jackson's 2021 documentary series, “The Beatles: Get Back." The “new” song is set to be released later this year, he said.Jackson was “able to extricate John’s voice from a ropey little bit of cassette and a piano,” McCartney told BBC radio. “He could separate them with AI, he’d tell the machine ‘That’s a voice, this is a guitar, lose the guitar’.”“So when we came to make what will be the last Beatles record, it was a demo that John had that we worked on," he added. “We were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI so then we could mix the record as you would do. It gives you some sort of leeway.”McCartney didn't identify the ...

3 arrested after beating man with baseball bat in Arlington Heights parking lot

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:09 GMT

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. -- Three men have been arrested for their role in beating a man with a baseball bat and mugging him in a Arlington Heights condominium complex parking lot.According to the Arlington Heights Police Department, officers responded to a local hospital where a man was being treated for extensive injuries on Sunday, June 11.Officers learned the man was attacked by several people in the parking lot of a condominium complex around 3 a.m. on Sunday. The man got into an argument with a group and then was violently attached with a baseball bat and repeatedly beat him with their hands and feet.The man was taken to a local hospital by his family, but remains in intensive care following treatment for traumatic injuries consisting of a brain hemorrhage, collapsed lung, fractured vertebra, and multiple broken bones.Further investigations identified three suspects responsible for the attack and were arrested on Monday, June 12.Guadalupe Mezo-Temich, of Arlington Heights, Fran...

Some Texas public schools facing budget concerns without legislative funding increases

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:09 GMT

BURNET, Texas (Nexstar) — With a $33 billion dollar budget surplus hanging overhead, the regular legislative session started with promises to increase teacher pay and school funding but ended with none, now leading some public schools with budget concerns as they head into the next school year without an increase to the basic allotment.In a district-wide email sent Tuesday morning to families, Burnet CISD said it is facing a $1.3 million dollar deficit for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year. This news was shared in a district-wide letter written by Burnet CISD Superintendent Keith McBurnett. "The Board of Trustees and Administration are working collaboratively to address the budget deficit," he wrote. "Difficult choice[s] are going to have to be made, when they shouldn’t have to be made."McBurnett attributed the budget deficit to what he described as the Legislature's "inaction on school funding" and the expiration of the "formula transition grants." Those grants were part of the 20...

Cooling centers open in Austin: How to find a location

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:09 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Cooling centers opened Tuesday in Austin with heat index values expected to range between 103°-113°, according to a City of Austin alert. First Warning Weather: No immediate end to dangerous heat and humidity A heat advisory was in effect from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Central Texas. Tuesday afternoon highs were expected to be near 100°."Due to extreme heat, all Austin Parks and Library facilities will serve as cooling centers during normal operating hours," the city's alert reads.Service animals will be permitted in the facilities.The addresses and hours for Austin Public Library facilities and Austin Parks are listed online.How to sign up for emergency alertsYou can sign up for emergency alerts at ReadyCentralTexas.org.The City of Austin Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the Travis County Office of Emergency Management partnered for the emergency preparedness app, the city's website states.The Ready Central Texas app provides (according...