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Biden celebrates new bridges as campaign season nears

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:37 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is awarding nearly $300 million to help repair or replace more than a dozen bridges across the country, closing out a three-week tour to highlight the benefits of infrastructure investments in local communities.Events in four states on Thursday marked the end of the beginning phase of an increasingly expansive White House effort to remind voters of his President Joe Biden’s accomplishments heading into his expected 2024 reelection race.During the administration’s “Investing in America” tour, Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and other officials held more than 50 events across 25 states at projects benefiting from the landmark infrastructure, climate and high-tech manufacturing laws passed during the Democratic president’s first two years in office.There will be much more talk to come about Biden’s record.“This is the focus of the next year-plus,” White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, who got the job in February w...

Hamilton declares state of emergency over opioids, homelessness, mental health

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:37 GMT

Hamilton’s city council declared a state of emergency on Thursday over homelessness, opioid addiction and mental health issues in the city.A motion approving the emergency call does not immediately compel the southern Ontario city to launch new programs to redress the widening crises.But it will see Mayor Andrea Horwath ask the provincial government to act on recommendations from a local group of public health agencies.Those include expanding services and harm reduction programs for people suffering from addiction, after a January report showed opioid-related deaths and overdoses in Hamilton had “increased exponentially.”The report said there were 26 opioid-related deaths in 2005 compared to 166 in 2021, noting that over 65 per cent of them were among males between 25 and 65 years old.Horwath will also call on the province to correct a funding model for homelessness, after a 2021 auditor general report found the province was not allocating enough resources to the i...

Doctor acquitted in 14 patient deaths sues health system

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:37 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — An Ohio doctor acquitted in the deaths of 14 patients who died after they were given painkillers has filed a lawsuit against a national Catholic health system that operates the hospital where he worked in the intensive care unit.William Husel claims malicious prosecution and names Trinity Health Corp. in a complaint filed Wednesday in federal court in Detroit. He is seeking a jury trial and at least $20 million in damages.Husel was accused of ordering painkillers for patients in the Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System. He was indicted in cases that involved the use of at least 500 micrograms of the powerful painkiller fentanyl.Prosecutors in that case had said ordering such dosages for a nonsurgical situation indicated an intent to end lives. Husel’s attorneys argued he was providing comfort care for dying patients, not trying to kill them.A jury found Husel not guilty of 14 counts of murder in April 2022.Husel was fired in late 2018 from Mount Carmel West Hospit...

Demand for fruit trees increases as gardening season arrives in Greater Toronto Area

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:37 GMT

As the Greater Toronto Area basks in a temporary stretch of warm weather, it’s ushering in gardening season and an increased interest in planting food-bearing trees, shrubs and plants.At the Woodhill Garden Centre at the border of Toronto and Vaughan, there has been a surging demand for one particular category.“Very definite demand for anything edible. Every day we’re getting several phone calls about fruit trees. ‘What are they coming? How do I plant them?'” Ian McCallum, the centre’s manager, told CityNews. “I would say it happens every year but this year there’s more of [calls] and earlier. It’s basically everything, but fruit trees at this time of year are in the biggest demand. People want wild cherries specifically, cherries are huge, but the other ones are being asked for as well.”It’s unclear what’s driving that demand, but with surging inflation impacting the price of fresh fruit and vegetables it might...

2 ex-LA sheriff’s deputies face federal civil rights charges

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:37 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies are accused of violating the civil rights of a skateboarder in 2020 and perpetrating a coverup, federal prosecutors said Thursday.A grand jury handed down the indictment last month, and both ex-deputies surrendered to authorities Thursday when it was unsealed. Miguel Vega and Christopher Hernandez allegedly threw the skateboarder — identified as “J.A.” in court papers — in the back of their cruiser and detained him without cause April 13, 2020, in Compton. He was still in the patrol vehicle when they then engaged in a pursuit and crashed the car, injuring the skateboarder. Prosecutors say the duo then conspired to coverup the then-23-year-old man’s unlawful detention.Vega, 32, and Hernandez, 37, are charged with conspiracy, deprivation of rights under color of law, witness tampering and falsification of records. Vega is charged with another falsification of records count. Their attorneys did not respond to an ...

Mini hydro company raises $18M to generate power in canals

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:37 GMT

A startup business that places small turbines in irrigation canals to generate electricity has raised $18.4 million to scale up its technology and generate carbon-free hydropower.Emily Morris, CEO and founder of Emrgy, said her inspiration for making electricity in places that some people might find unlikely was seeing the vast network of U.S. irrigation infrastructure, with water swiftly flowing through it. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation alone operates 1,600 miles of main canals. In the same way that putting solar on rooftops avoids disturbing the land, making use of existing canals means the hydropower turbines don’t have to be installed in the natural environment.“Our infrastructure represents a new sector of renewable energy real estate,” Morris said in an interview.Irrigation canals in the U.S. are made of concrete or stone and transport water from main sources to fields. Emrgy units look something like a propeller with blades rotating parallel to the ground. Water in the...

UNC students protest decision to ban ‘Cop City’ activist

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:37 GMT

Students at North Carolina’s flagship public university walked out of class Thursday to protest school officials’ decision to ban a law school student from campus after she was charged with domestic terrorism last month following a violent protest over a planned Atlanta-area police and firefighter training center that activists derisively call “Cop City.”University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill law school student Jamie Marsicano, 30, was one of 23 people arrested on domestic terrorism charges March 5 after a large group of masked activists stormed a Georgia construction site and proceeded to bash equipment, torch a bulldozer and throw rocks and fireworks at retreating law enforcement officers, according to police surveillance footage. Since being released on bond last month, Marsicano has been barred from attending class in person. On Thursday, more than 100 protesters marched across UNC’s campus chanting, “Jamie’s not in class! We are not in class!” The demo...

School bus damaged by gunfire during attempted carjacking on West Side

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:37 GMT

CHICAGO — A school bus was damaged Thursday afternoon after shots were fired during an attempted carjacking on the West Side of Chicago, according to police. Around 1:45 p.m., a man was approached by someone with a firearm who was demanding his vehicle in the 2400 block of West Taylor Street, according to information from the Chicago Police Department. Northwestern criticizes its own response to deadly shooting steps from campus The driver pulled out his own firearm and the two exchanged gunshots, police said. A nearby school bus was damaged and no injuries were reported.The driver has a valid FOID and CCL, police said. No one is in custody and the incident is still under investigation by Area Three detectives.

Judge tosses 40th conviction tied to disgraced ex-CPD detective

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:37 GMT

CHICAGO – After 24 years, a man who has spent nearly a quarter of a century in prison for a murder he insisted he did not commit will soon be freed.Richard Kwil saw a Cook County judge overturn his conviction in court on Thursday, the latest in a series of reversed judgments linked to disgraced former Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara.Kwil's daughter, 25-year-old Aixa Hernandez, applauded her father's impending release from prison. New lawsuits filed against former Chicago cop bring old allegations to light "Really happy," she said. "He was away a really long time. I’m just glad we get to build a relationship finally."Hernandez said she has only known her father through short visits, letters and phone calls. It made the moment a judge tossed out her father's murder conviction more profound."It didn’t feel real but it’s really exciting," she said. "Just glad it’s all over."Undated booking photo of Richard Kwil. (Photo: Pontiac Correctional Center)Kwil says not only was he ...

Former CEO of ComEd takes stand in bribery trial

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:37 GMT

CHICAGO -- The ongoing ComEd bribery trial continued Thursday as jurors heard witness testimony from the former CEO.The four defendants, charged in November 2020, are former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore; former ComEd Vice President and lobbyist John Hooker; Jay Doherty, a former ComEd lobbying contractor and President of the City Club of Chicago; and Michael McClain, another former ComEd lobbying contractor and consultant who, for decades, has been a close confidant of Madigan. All have pleaded not guilty.Madigan was charged in 2022 with racketeering, bribery and other crimes. He’s denied wrongdoing. A year earlier, he resigned from the Legislature as the longest-serving House speaker in modern U.S. history amid speculation that he was a federal target.The indictment accused Madigan, among other things, of reaping the benefits of private legal work illegally steered to his law firm.In 2020, ComEd admitted to the bribery scheme and paid $200 million fine. The defendants' lawy...