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Federal appeals court upholds Illinois semiautomatic weapons ban

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:32 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A federal appeals court on Friday upheld Illinois’ prohibition on high-power semiautomatic weapons, refusing to put a hold on the law adopted in response to the mass killing of seven people at a 2022 parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park.A three-judge panel of the 7th District U.S. Court of Appeals voted 2-1 on the issue. The majority recognized a difference between firearms for personal use and those the state law reserves for “trained professionals,” semiautomatic weapons, including the popular AR-15.“There is a long tradition, unchanged from the time when the Second Amendment was added to the Constitution, supporting a distinction between weapons and accessories designed for military or law-enforcement use and weapons designed for personal use,” Judge Diane Wood said in the opinion. “The legislation now before us respects and relies on that distinction.”Ed Sullivan, a lobbyist for the Illinois State Rifle Association, said gun-rights advocat...

El Salvador electoral tribunal approves Bukele’s bid for reelection

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:32 GMT

SAN SALVADOR (AP) — El Salvador’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal on Friday ruled President Nayib Bukele can run for reelection next year, even though the country’s Constitution technically prohibits it.The decision comes one week after the popular Salvadoran president registered to run with the New Ideas party. In a vote Friday, electoral authorities approved Bukele’s reelection bid by four votes to none, with one abstention.The Supreme Electoral Tribunal took to X, formerly Twitter, to confirm Bukele and his vice presidential candidate, Félix Ulloa, meet “the legal requirements” to run in February 2024.Bukele also celebrated the decision on X writing “Legally registered! And without any votes against.”Officials also voted unanimously in favor of the candidacy of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front — an old-guard leftist party formed of ex-guerillas from El Salvador’s civil war.The FMLN expelled Bukele from its ranks in 2017, a decision he repaid as pre...

After raid on fundraiser’s home, NYC mayor says he has no knowledge of ‘foreign money’ in campaign

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:32 GMT

New York (AP) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams denied any involvement in illegal political fundraising Friday, but his campaign pledged it would review its books, a day after federal agents raided the home of one of the Democrat’s chief fundraisers. “I am outraged and angry if anyone attempted to use the campaign to manipulate our democracy and defraud our campaign,” Adams said in a statement on Friday. An attorney for his campaign, Vito Pitta, said they were reviewing “all documents and actions by campaign workers connected to the contributors in question.”The comments came one day after federal agents searched the Brooklyn home of Adams’ top campaign fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, prompting the mayor to scuttle a planned trip to meet with White House officials in Washington and instead return to New York.The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment on the investigation, but The New York Times reported that it had obtained a search warrant indicating th...

Toddler critically injured in accidental shooting after suspect discards gun on daycare playground

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:32 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A toddler in Las Vegas was hospitalized in critical condition after finding a gun on a daycare playground that had been discarded by a teenage suspect fleeing the scene of a nearby shooting, authorities announced Friday.Deputy Police Chief Reggie Radar said the toddler, who is under the age of 5, “found the firearm, picked it up, and the firearm discharged, injuring the toddler.” Radar said the toddler was in stable but critical condition Friday afternoon.Police officers found the suspect in the area of the daycare in northeastern Las Vegas and took him into custody.Radar said it wasn’t immediately clear what charges the suspect will face but that the police department was consulting with the local district attorney’s office about “all applicable charges” and whether he will be charged as an adult.Radar did not identify the suspect, who he said was younger than 18.He said the teenager had been fleeing after shooting a man on a city bus when he jumped ove...

Bankman-Fried’s trial exposed crypto fraud but Congress has not been eager to regulate the industry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:32 GMT

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — The conviction of former cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried for stealing at least $10 billion from customers and investors is the latest black mark for the cryptocurrency industry, but in Washington, there seems to be little to no interest in pushing through regulation. When cryptocurrencies collapsed and a number of companies failed last year, Congress considered multiple approaches for how to regulate the industry in the future. However, most of those efforts have gone nowhere, especially in this chaotic year that has been dominated by geopolitical tensions, inflation and the upcoming 2024 election. Ironically, the failure of Bankman-Fried’s FTX and his subsequent arrest late last year may have contributed to the momentum for regulation stalling out. Before FTX imploded, Bankman-Fried spent millions of dollars — illegally taken from his customers it turns out — to influence the discussion around cryptocurrency regulation in Washington and push...

'We want to do this right:' CPD opens new training facility to local media, showcase mock training

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:32 GMT

CHICAGO — With the Chicago Police Department still lagging far behind on consent decree reforms, police officials defended the department's pace Friday, calling it a long and hard journey.CPD also brought in local media to tour their new public safety training facility Friday, where they showcased a mock training scenario in action — officers responding to a person in crisis and finding a peaceful solution."What we don't want is for our officers to rush in, feel like they have to make an immediate decision, and act," said CPD Chief of Constitutional Policing and Reform Angel Novalez. "What we're doing, right, is avoiding and mitigating the opportunities of escalation."By the end of the year, police officials said CPD's more than 10,000 officers will have completed 40 hours of training, which includes the Integrating Communications Assessment and Tactics (ICAT) training that started back in April and focused on case studies, repetitive training drills and scenarios.Officers are also ...

Chicago to replace thousands of pipes, strengthening lead protections in drinking water

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:32 GMT

CHICAGO — Illinois and Chicago leaders announced the dispersal of $336 million to Chicago to aid efforts in removing lead service lines across the city.An example is already being seen on the city’s South Side."We’re pulling out the lead and putting in a copper line," said Chicago Department of Water Management Commissioner Andrea Cheng, describing steps behind lead service line replacements.The task will be done to replace water mains and up to 30,000 service line connections throughout the city. Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth spoke about the importance of the move. "In just our state, we have 23% of the entire nation's supply of lead service lines are right here in Illinois and most of it is in Chicago and Chicagoland area," the state senator said.On the national level, there are about 9 million lead service lines, of which 400,000 are in Chicago."It’s an honor to be here and see money we appropriate in Washington actually coming to the neighborhoods of Chicago," said Illinois S...

1.2M patients impacted after Cook County Health data breach

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:32 GMT

COOK COUNTY, Ill. — Patient data with the Cook County Health was exposed as part of a leak, though the county's servers and systems were unaffected. A company that previously provided medical transcription services for Cook County notified CCH that their system was illegally accessed in April of this year. As a result, records for 1.2 million patients were impacted.Personal patient information that could have been accessed included names, dates of birth, addresses, medical record numbers, encounter numbers, medical information, and dates/times of service. After loss of baby, couple honors her memory with NICU little libraries Approximately 2,600 of those patient records may also have included Social Security Numbers.CCH said letters will be sent to impacted individuals with more information. Patients should expect the letters to arrive in the mail next week. Those affected are also asked to monitor their credit reports and medical bills for any suspicious activity."CCH is committ...

Memphis pastor who was on 'American Idol,' 'The Voice' charged with identity theft

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:32 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — A well-known Tennessee pastor who appeared on singing competitions "American Idol" and "The Voice" was arrested and charged with identity theft.Pastor Steven Flockhart of 901 Church in Shelby County was charged with identity theft and theft of merchandise $2,500-$10,000 on Thursday. Who is ‘Dollarita Steve’? SF software engineer goes viral after earthquake Flockhart is known for his brief success on "American Idol" and NBC's "The Voice" in 2012.Reports say that in 2019, Flockhart and another member of the church agreed to open a joint credit card specifically for the church. The victim stated that Flockhart called him and requested his personal information, which he reluctantly gave. Steven Flockhart (Shelby County Sheriff's Office)In September 2023, the victim said that he noticed his credit score had dropped a significant amount. When searching for an answer as to why, he noticed that a credit card through PayPal had been opened under his name.Reports sho...

Passengers sue after off-duty pilot's alleged attempt to shut down engine during flight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:32 GMT

(The Hill) – Passengers of an Alaska Airlines flight that was nearly downed due to an alleged attempt by an off-duty pilot to shut down the engines last month have filed a class-action suit against the airline.The lawsuit alleges that the airline did not properly follow its policy by allowing Joseph Emerson to fly in the cockpit’s jump seat, despite him admitting that he was not right of mind. The suit’s three plaintiffs said they suffered emotional distress from the incident.According to prosecutors, Emerson was sleep-deprived, depressed and on psychedelic mushrooms when he took the flight and attempted to shut down the plane’s engines. He was restrained by the cabin crew and later charged with attempted murder. Southwest Airlines pilot hangs from window to retrieve passenger’s cell phone "The airlines need a wake-up call,” attorney in the suit Daniel Laurence said in a statement. “We understand that most pilots are heroes every day for safely operating our airliners. But they ar...