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City of Orlando buys Pulse nightclub property to build memorial to massacre victims

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:56 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The city of Orlando is moving forward with plans to create a memorial on the property of the Pulse nightclub, where 49 people were massacred seven years ago.City leaders agreed Monday night to purchase the property for $2 million. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said they plan a collaborative approach, working with families of the victims to create the memorial.On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen opened fire in the gay nightclub, killing 49 and wounding another 53 people. At the time, it was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. But that number was surpassed the following year when 58 people were killed and more than 850 were injured among a crowd of 22,000 at a country music festival in Las Vegas.A SWAT team killed Mateen, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, following a standoff. Plans to build the memorial had been in the works for years, but the nonprofit onePulse Foundation announced earlier this year that it was scaling back plans for a $100...

Five years later, pot producers are growing flowers and veggies

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:56 GMT

In today’s Big Story Podcast, the promise of untold millions once puffed up the legal cannabis industry to unimaginable highs. Then blunt reality set in. Now, with dreams of fortunes going up in smoke, some producers are entering joint ventures into other industries, hoping to find ways to keep business rolling.Meanwhile, the government’s long-awaited review of the Cannabis Act is still pending, and everyone with money still invested in the industry is hoping the grass will be greener on the other side of that process.Tara Deschamps is reporter with The Canadian Press. “I think the main reason why it’s so far off what they imagined is because we’ve seen so much regulation. We’ve seen the illicit industry still be quite strong. So it’s been difficult for companies to get to sort of where they dreamed,” said Deschamps.Is there still upside in the weed business? Or does the industry have too many chronic problems?You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast ...

Russian drone debris downed power lines near a Ukraine nuclear plant. A new winter barrage is likely

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:56 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired 11 Shahed drones against Ukrainian targets, reaching deep into Ukraine while falling debris damaged power lines near a nuclear power plant in the country’s west, officials said Wednesday. Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted all the overnight drones.For the fourth day in a row, the Kremlin’s forces took aim at the Ukrainian region of Khmelnytskyi, injuring 16 people, according to local authorities.Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy Infrastructure said falling drone wreckage in Khmelnytskyi broke windows in the administrative building and the laboratory of the local nuclear plant and knocked out electricity to more than 1,800 customers. The plant is about 200 kilometers (120 miles) east of the border with Poland.Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country’s air defenses are preparing for another winter of Russian attacks on energy infrastructure as the war enters its 21st month.But Kyiv also plans to take the fight to Russia throu...

New report from PEN America documents vast book bannings in U.S. prisons

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:56 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Tens of thousands of books are being banned or restricted by U.S. prisons, according to a new report from PEN America. The list includes everything from self-help books to an Elmore Leonard novel.“The common concept underpinning the censorship we’re seeing is that certain ideas and information are a threat,” says the report’s co-author, Moira Marquis, senior manager in the prison and justice writing department at PEN, the literary and free expression organization.Timed to the start Wednesday of Prison Banned Books Week, “Reading Between the Bars” draws upon public record requests, calls from PEN to prison mailrooms, dozens of accounts from inmates and PEN’s struggles to distribute its guide for prison writing, “The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting A Writer’s Life in Prison,” which came out last year.Marquis said that the most common official reasons for bans are security and sexual content, terms that can apply to a very wide range of titles...

Business leaders increasingly see importance of climate plans: survey

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:56 GMT

TORONTO — A new survey finds Canadian business leaders increasingly see climate change plans as good for their bottom line. The survey commissioned by BMO of 700 small and medium business leaders in Canada and the U.S. found that 62 per cent of those north of the border see a climate change plan as good for business, up from 47 per cent in the survey last year.Other pressures such as inflation, interest rates, labour shortages and supply chain bottlenecks, however, still ranked as more pressing.Melissa Fifield, who leads BMO’s climate institute, says it’s encouraging to see more businesses recognize the importance of developing a climate plan.She says the results of the survey, conducted in August, were likely influenced by the widespread wildfires at the time that showed the unpredictable and severe weather events that climate change can create.Fifield says extreme weather has prompted business leaders to think more about the impacts to their supply chains, buildings an...

Suzette Mayr, Iain Reid among finalists for Governor General’s Literary Awards

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:56 GMT

TORONTO — Suzette Mayr, Iain Reid and Susan Musgrave are among the well-known finalists for the Governor General’s Literary Awards.The Canada Council for the Arts named 70 finalists across seven categories in both English and French on Wednesday. The 14 winners, who each receive $25,000, will be announced Nov. 8.Mayr made the fiction list for “The Sleeping Car Porter,” which took home last year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize, while Reid is on the same short list for “We Spread.”Also in the running for the English-language fiction prize are Janika Oza’s novel “A History of Burning,” Anuja Varghese’s short story collection “Chrysalis” and Kai Thomas’s novel “In the Upper Country.”Musgrave, meanwhile, is a finalist for the poetry prize for “Exculpatory Lilies,” a collection that was also shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize.Other finalists for that award are “Baby Book” by A...

Man in custody after Illinois State Trooper shot in Springfield

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:56 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois State Police are investigating after an officer-involved shooting in Springfield.The shooting happened around 10:45 p.m. Tuesday in the 1600 block of Toronto Road in Sangamon County.According to preliminary information, an ISP trooper interacted with 37-year-old Cristobal Santana of Chicago, who is believed to be wanted in connection with a recent homicide in the city.During the interaction, gunshots were fired and the trooper was struck in the leg. ISP said Santana fled his vehicle on foot. He was caught and taken into police custody just before 2 a.m. Wednesday.No other officers were injured in the shooting. The investigation is ongoing. No further information is available at this time.

Massive backup on I-80/94 in Northwest Indiana due to semi crash

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:56 GMT

LAKE COUNTY, Ind. — A crash involving multiple semi trucks is causing a massive backup Wednesday morning on I-80/94 in Northwest Indiana.The crash involves three semi trucks and other vehicles. Initially, Indiana State Police said all westbound lanes are blocked near Cline Avenue.As of now, one lane is getting by — but traffic is backed up all the way to I-65.Police urge motorists to use the toll road, US 20 or Ridge Road.It's unknown if there are any injuries at this time.WGN News will update this story.

Skokie man charged with hate crime after allegedly using pepper spray at Skokie rally

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:56 GMT

SKOKIE, Ill. — A man has been charged with a hate crime after a confrontation with pro-Palestinian protestors at an Israeli rally in Skokie over the weekend.Zevulen Ebert, 33, faces two felony counts of aggravated battery and two felony counts of hate crime charges. He will appear for a pre-trial hearing Wednesday.According to the Skokie Police Department, Ebert was arrested in relation to the pepper spray incident at the private Solidarity with Israel event on the 3400 block of West Touhy Avenue on Sunday. He is believed to have targeted pro-Palestinian protestors. ORIGINAL: Tensions rise amid clashing rallies in Skokie Around 1,000 people had gathered to show solidarity with Israel at Ateres Ayala, which is a banquet hall, according to event organizers.Attendees told WGN-TV that a counter-rally was then organized for the same time, in the same area by Palestinian supporters. No charges for man who fired gun in the air near rallies in Skokie Skokie police say during the protes...

Woman, 22, killed in hit-and-run crash on West Side

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:56 GMT

CHICAGO — A 22-year-old woman was killed in a hit-and-run crash on the city's West Side.It happened around 11:21 p.m. Tuesday in the 600 block of South Laramie Avenue in the Austin neighborhood.Police said the woman was driving a tan colored sedan westbound on Flourney when she was struck byt the driver of a black Audi sedan.The woman was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Man in custody after Illinois State Trooper shot in Springfield The driver and occupants of the Audi fled the scene on foot. No one is in custody.The Major Accidents unit is investigating.