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White House to announce first-ever federal office of gun violence prevention, AP sources say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:05:30 GMT

By COLLEEN LONG and SEUNG MIN KIM (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is creating the first-ever federal office of gun violence prevention, according to two people familiar with the plans. The office will coordinate efforts across the federal government and will offer help and guidance to states struggling with increasing gun violence, while taking the lead on implementation of the bipartisan gun legislation signed into law last year. Biden tentatively plans to announce the new effort with an event Friday at the White House, said the people, who had direct knowledge of the plans and who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The office fulfills a key demand of gun safety activists who banded together as a coalition to endorse Biden for president in 2024, and is an effort by the White House to keep the issue front-and-center as the president pushes for a ban on so-called “assault weap...

A panel finds torture made a 9/11 defendant psychotic. A judge will rule whether he can stand trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:05:30 GMT

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — A military medical panel has concluded that one of the five 9/11 defendants held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base has been rendered delusional and psychotic by the torture he underwent years ago while in CIA custody.The findings heighten uncertainty over whether Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who has long complained he was under attack by invisible rays at Guantanamo, will stand trial. A military judge, Col. Matthew McCall, is expected to rule as soon as Thursday whether al-Shibh’s mental issues render him incompetent to take part in the proceedings against him.Defense lawyers argue that the best hope of al-Shibh, a Yemeni accused of organizing one cell of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers, regaining competency to stand trial is a step that some Americans are likely to find distasteful: for him to be provided with post-torture trauma care and no longer subject to solitary confinement. Al-Shibh’s newly disclosed diagnosis ...

As more patients email doctors, health systems start charging fees

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:05:30 GMT

Harris Meyer | (TNS) KFF Health NewsMeg Bakewell, who has cancer and cancer-related heart disease, sometimes emails her primary care physician, oncologist, and cardiologist asking them for medical advice when she experiences urgent symptoms such as pain or shortness of breath.But she was a little surprised when, for the first time, she got a bill — a $13 copay — for an emailed consultation she had with her primary care doctor at University of Michigan Health. The health system had begun charging in 2020 for “e-visits” through its MyChart portal. Even though her out-of-pocket cost on the $37 charge was small, now she’s worried about how much she’ll have to pay for future e-visits, which help her decide whether she needs to see one of her doctors in person. Her standard copay for an office visit is $25.“If I send a message to all three doctors, that could be three copays, or $75,” said Bakewell, a University of Michigan teaching consultant who lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and is on l...

Two dead, dog injured, in suspected DUI crash on SR-76

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:05:30 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Two people were killed in a multi-vehicle crash on State Route 76 in Pala Wednesday, California Highway Patrol confirmed.The incident occurred just after midnight near Pala Mission Road, prompting the closure of all eastbound and westbound lanes of SR-76, Caltrans reported. All lanes of SR-76 have since reopened.According to CHP, a 43-year-old man from Vista was driving a red Nissan Xterra in the eastbound lane of SR-76 at Pala Mission Road around midnight. San Diego water rate hike explained by councilmember At that same time, authorities say a 65-year-old man from Vista was driving a white Toyota Rav-4 in the westbound lane of SR-76 at Pala Mission Road. For reasons still under investigation, CHP says the driver of the Nissan crossed into the westbound lane and collided head-on with the Toyota.The driver of the Toyota and a 59-year-old female passenger were pronounced dead at the scene, according to CHP. The identity of the driver and passenger will be released thro...

Suspect in ambush killing of LA deputy pleads not guilty due to insanity

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:05:30 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The man charged with murder in the ambush killing of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on Wednesday.Officials say Kevin Cataneo Salazar fatally shot 30-year-old Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, who was sitting in a patrol car, on Saturday in Palmdale, a city of more than 167,000 residents in the high desert of northern Los Angeles County.Prosecutors charged Cataneo Salazar, 29, with one count of murder with special circumstances. His attorney, George Rosenstock, entered a plea of not guilty and a dual plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on his behalf during Wednesday’s arraignment.Cataneo Salazar was arrested Monday after an hourslong standoff with sheriff’s deputies. He had barricaded himself inside his family’s Palmdale home. Cataneo Salazar remained held without bail and is scheduled to return to court in November. Rosenstock, his lawyer, did not immediately respond to a request for additi...

Quavo steps up advocacy against gun violence after his nephew Takeoff’s shooting death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:05:30 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The trauma Migos rapper Quavo suffered after witnessing his nephew Takeoff being gunned down last year is a disturbing sight he doesn’t want anyone else to experience.Through his pain, Quavo found his purpose as a vocal advocate against gun violence. He met privately with some powerful political figures including Vice President Kamala Harris then was expected to speak on a panel discussion about combating the issue during the Congressional Black Caucus legislative conference in Washington on Wednesday.The Grammy-nominated rapper said Takeoff’s untimely death in 2022 ultimately convinced him to speak up. “I feel like your calling comes at the least expected times,” said Quavo, who also honored his nephew with their Migos bandmate Offset during the BET Awards earlier this summer. Police say Takeoff was an innocent bystander who was shot outside a Houston bowling alley after a disagreement over a lucrative dice game led to gunfire. Takeoff’s death was the lates...

Blue Jays call up Cam Eden, option Ernie Clement to triple-A Buffalo

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:05:30 GMT

The Toronto Blue Jays have selected outfield prospect Cam Eden to their major league roster, and he will be active for Wednesday’s game against the New York Yankees.Eden, who is set to make his major league debut, has a team-leading 53 stolen bases in 131 games with triple-A Buffalo.ROSTER MOVES: ???? OF Cam Eden has been selected to the Major League roster and will be active for tonight’s game ???? INF Ernie Clement optioned to Triple-A???? INF Mason McCoy designated for assignment pic.twitter.com/CCplH8X4mD— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 20, 2023In four seasons of professional baseball, Eden is 127-for-140 (91 per cent) in stolen-base attempts. This year, he went 53-for-57 (93 per cent) in triple-A. Eden was also voted the best base runner in the International League by Baseball America.Toronto also optioned infielder Ernie Clement to triple-A Buffalo. Clement has one home run and 10 RBIs with a .380/.385/.500 slash line in 29 games with the Blue Jays this se...

Cross-country rallies against ‘gender ideology’ in schools meet with counter-protests

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:05:30 GMT

Thousands of people gathered in cities across Canada on Wednesday for competing protests, yelling and chanting at each other about the way schools instruct sexuality and gender identity and how teachers refer to transgender youth.Protesters accused schools of exposing young students to “gender ideology,” and said parents have the right to know whether their children are questioning their gender identity. Counter-demonstrators, meanwhile, accused protesters of importing United States culture wars into the country and trying to deny students important lessons about inclusion and respect for gender-diverse people.“Trans people — they exist in society, and they deserve inclusion, just like everyone else,” said activist Celeste Trianon, who helped lead a counter-protest in downtown Montreal, where police inserted themselves between the two factions outside the offices of Premier François Legault. “We need to talk to people, teach them the right vocabulary, t...

Jeep maker Stellantis makes a new contract offer as auto workers prepare to expand their strike

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:05:30 GMT

General Motors and Stellantis announced fresh layoffs Wednesday that they blamed on damage from the United Auto Workers strike, but Stellantis also gave the union a new contract proposal in hopes of ending the six-day walkout. It was not clear whether the Stellantis offer would persuade the union not to expand its strike. The union’s president vows to announce new strike targets on Friday unless there is “serious progress” toward agreements with GM, Stellantis and Ford.Neither Stellantis nor the union would give details about the company’s latest offer.So far UAW workers are striking at just three factories — one for each company, including a GM assembly plant near St. Louis. GM said that shutdown caused it to idle an assembly plant in Kansas with about 2,000 workers because “there is no work available” — the plant depends on parts stamped in the St. Louis-area facility.GM said it does not expect to restart the Kansas plant until the strike ends, and it won’t...

Revolving door redux: The DEA’s recently departed No. 2 returns to a Big Pharma consulting firm

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:05:30 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington’s revolving door kept spinning this week as the Drug Enforcement Administration’s recently departed second-in-command returned for a new stint with the high-powered consulting firm where he previously advised Purdue Pharma and a drug distributor fighting sanctions over a deluge of suspicious painkiller shipments. Louis Milione retired from the DEA a second time this summer amid reporting by The Associated Press on potential conflicts caused by his prior consulting for the pharmaceutical industry. Less than three months later, Milione again landed a plum job at Guidepost Solutions, a New York-based firm hired by some of the same companies he had been tasked with regulating when he returned to the DEA in 2021 as Administrator Anne Milgram’s top deputy.Milione had spent four years at Guidepost prior to his return, leveraging his extensive experience and contacts from a 21-year DEA career. “Should we say Welcome Back?” Guidepost quipped in a social media pos...