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Lawyers in Trump’s civil fraud trial are ordered to clam up about judge’s communications with staff

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:34 GMT

By JENNIFER PELTZ (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — The judge in Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial barred attorneys in the case Friday from commenting on “confidential communications” between him and his staff, after the former president’s attorneys renewed claims that a clerk is poisoning the proceedings. Threatening “serious sanctions” for any violations, Judge Arthur Engoron expanded on a prior gag order that prohibited parties in the trial from speaking publicly about court staffers. The earlier order didn’t mention the parties’ attorneys, but Engoron had suggested Thursday he might expand it. The matter seized attention on a day when Eric Trump, one of the former president’s sons and a top executive in the family business, wrapped up his testimony. He said he relied completely on accountants and lawyers to assure the accuracy of financial documents that are key to New York Attorney General Letitia James’ ...

Illinois city tickets reporter for asking too many questions, in latest First Amendment dustup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:34 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Officials in a suburban Chicago community have issued municipal citations to a local news reporter for what they say were persistent contacts with city officials seeking comment on treacherous fall flooding. The tickets from Calumet City, a city of 35,000 located 24 miles (39 kilometers) south of Chicago, allege “interference/hampering of city employees” by Hank Sanders, a reporter for the Daily Southtown, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.It’s the latest of several recent First Amendment dust-ups involving city officials and news outlets around the country, following this week’s arrest of a small-town Alabama newspaper publisher and reporter after reporting on a grand jury investigation of a school district, and the August police raid of a newspaper and its publisher’s home in Kansas tied to an apparent dispute a restaurant owner had with the paper.Sanders reported in an Oct. 20 story that consultants told Calumet City administrato...

Tupac Shakur has an Oakland street named for him 27 years after his death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:34 GMT

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A stretch of street in Oakland, California, was renamed Friday for Tupac Shakur, 27 years after the killing of the hip-hop luminary. A section of MacArthur Boulevard near where he lived in the 1990s became Tupac Shakur Way, following a ceremony that included his family members and Oakland native MC Hammer. “Let his spirit live on the rest of these years in these streets and in your hearts,” Shakur’s sister Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur told the crowd, wiping away tears at the end of a nearly two-hour ceremony. The sign for Tupac Shakur Way was unveiled moments later. MC Hammer, the “U Can’t Touch This” rapper who spent many of Shakur’s final months with him before his 1996 shooting death at age 25, said in his remarks that Shakur was, “hands down, the greatest rapper ever, there’s not even a question of that.” Shakur collaborator Money-B and Oakland hip-hop legend Too Short also spoke at the ceremony. Shakur was born in New York and was raised there a...

Officer who shot Breonna Taylor says fellow officer fired ‘haphazardly’ into apartment during raid

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:34 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The ex-Louisville officer who fatally shot Breonna Taylor during a botched police raid took the witness stand Friday and criticized the actions of a former officer who is on trial on charges of violating Taylor’s civil rights.Myles Cosgrove was one of the officers at Taylor’s apartment door as it was breached during the 2020 raid. Taylor’s killing, along with George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minnesota police, ignited protests that summer around the country over racial injustice and police brutality. Cosgrove testified Friday that his former fellow officer, Brett Hankison, fired “haphazardly” into the apartment after Taylor’s boyfriend shot another officer. Hankison moved away from the door after officers returned fire, and shot into the side windows of Taylor’s apartment. Some of the bullets went into a neighbor’s unit, near where a child was sleeping.“In my opinion, it’s dangerous to do that,” Cosgrove said of Hankison’s shots. “You have to have a target...

Heart and Stroke foundation praises vape tax, some say it could grow illegal market

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:34 GMT

Heart and Stroke Ontario is praising the Ontario government for implementing a new tax on vaping, saying they have been advocating for the measure for years. The province said in it’s fall economic statement that the federal tax on vaping products will double with the additional revenue going to the province of Ontario.Lesley James, Director of Health Policy and Systems for Heart and Stroke Ontario, said they have seen this type of tax help reduce the rates of vape use amongst young Ontarians.“We’ve seen about a hundred jurisdictions around the world introduce a vape tax to date and the preliminary results from these jurisdictions are similar to what we saw with tobacco, that rates go down after taxes implemented and youth are among the most price sensitive,” said James. “So because they have less disposable income, they feel the impact of a price increase that much more, and they’re more likely to be discouraged to use these products.”Stati...

‘We don’t feel safe’: Brampton residents terrified after string of break and enters caught on camera

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:34 GMT

Residents of a south Brampton neighbourhood say they’re distressed and concerned for their safety as thieves have been breaking into homes at all hours of the day and stealing vehicles.Concerned residents have been contacting CityNews to share security video of the alleged criminals in action. One such video shows two men wearing masks and hoodies aggressively trying to bust through the front doors of a home in the Streetsville Glen area in the Churchville neighbourhood. The suspects fail to gain access and flee on foot. In another incident three days ago, a different home was broken into, with security footage in that instance showing two suspects aggressively kicking and lunging towards a side door to gain access to the inside of the home.“It’s been several months now. We have had several break-ins. We have had a lot of cars stolen,” said Kiren, a woman who lives in the neighbourhood. “They come in, they scurry around and look for keys,” said St...

Supporters march in solidarity after arrests of Vancouver safe drug supply advocates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:34 GMT

VANCOUVER — Advocates for a safe drug supply gathered in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside to denounce the recent arrests of the founders of the Drug User Liberation Front. The Vancouver Police Department raided the group’s office and arrested its co-founders, Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum, last week, saying the organization had publicly admitted to trafficking illegal drugs. Those at the rally and march say the group’s work saved lives by supporting drug users with safe substances instead of forcing them into the illicit market that has claimed thousands of lives in B.C. Leslie McBain with the group Moms Stop the Harm says the group was doing work that should be done by government, but it had to resort to civil disobedience as people continue to die from toxic drug consumption. McBain, who lost her only child to an overdose, says policymakers have been slow to take the kind of action needed to keep parents like her from losing more loved ones. Before the mass of hundred...

Man grabbed officer’s gun before deadly shooting in Saskatchewan: police watchdog

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:34 GMT

ESTEVAN, Sask. — Saskatchewan’s police watchdog says a 19-year-old man grabbed an officer’s gun while he was getting his arrest photo taken, and an officer was shot and wounded.The Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team says another officer then shot the man, who later died.Police had responded to a call Wednesday morning and found a woman suffering from serious upper body injuries in a home in Estevan, about 200 kilometres southeast of Regina.Karie Ann Guillas, who was 46, died in hospital.Her son was arrested and taken to police headquarters, where the shooting happened.Both the suspect and officer were flown to a hospital in Regina, where the injured officer was listed in stable condition.The response team, which investigates incidents involving police, said Friday it will examine the actions of police, and the RCMP are investigating the injuries sustained by the officer. Estevan police are investigating the homicide of the woman.This report by The Canadian Press...

Toyota is not advising people to park recalled RAV4 SUVs outdoors despite reports of engine fires

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:34 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — Toyota isn’t telling owners of 1.9 million recalled RAV4 SUVs to park them outdoors even though U.S. safety investigators have four complaints about engine fires that can start with the vehicles’ ignitions turned off.The recall, announced Wednesday by the company, came as the regulators were investigating engine fires caused by replacement battery problems in RAV4s, the top-selling vehicle in the U.S. that isn’t a pickup truck.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents detailing the probe that it received nine reports that the 12-volt batteries may have caused fires, loss of electrical power or engine stalling. In addition, the agency has eight reports of fires that started on the driver’s side of the engine compartment where the battery is located. Four reports said “thermal events” happened with the ignition off, indicating that it may be wise for owners to park the SUVs outdoors until they can be repaired. But Toyota spok...

Speaker Johnson led House passage of Israel aid. But the hard part comes next in confronting Biden

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:34 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — As new Speaker Mike Johnson grabbed hold of the House gavel, he made a plea for Americans to “give me a chance” before making up their minds about the newcomer’s ability to lead the far-right House Republican majority that elected him to power.What Johnson has shown in his first big test as the House passed a nearly $14.5 billion military aid package to Israel is that the easy-going social conservative is more than eager to lift up the priorities of his right flank rather than reach toward the political center in the name of compromise. By seeking to force the Israel-Hamas war package to be paid for with government spending cuts, something rarely required in emergencies of war or natural disasters, Johnson turned what’s normally an overwhelming bipartisan issue, support for Israel, into one that bitterly split Democrats from Republicans. President Joe Biden threatened a veto. It’s a stark example of what may come — or not. The looming government s...