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Elections head in Nevada’s lone swing county resigns, underscoring election turnover in key state

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:36 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — The rapid turnover among election officials in Nevada continued on Tuesday, when the top election official in Nevada’s lone swing county abruptly announced her resignation less than a month before early voting commences for the Feb. 6 presidential preference primary.Washoe County Registrar of Voters Jamie Rodriguez said in her resignation letter that she wanted to pursue opportunities away from elections and spend more time with family ahead of a crucial 2024 election cycle.Her last day will be March 15, though she will use her accrued time before then.Eleven of Nevada’s 17 counties have had turnover in top county election positions since the 2020 election, most of which occurred between 2020 and the 2022 midterms, according to an Associated Press tally. That already included Washoe County, whose past registrar of voters, Deanna Spikula, resigned in June 2022 due to death threats and harassment.The county had no additional comment on Rodriguez’s departure, other th...

‘We had to do something different’: Leafs’ GM details plan for Samsonov

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:36 GMT

Something, anything had to change.The goaltender Brad Treliving took to arbitration over the summer because the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t believe in him enough to commit long-term no longer believes in himself.So, with the trade prices too steep for the GM’s liking in a goalie market flooded with buyers and short on sellers, Treliving had a choice: (a) keep trotting out Ilya Samsonov in back-to-back situations and hold his breath, or (b) give the goalie a break from NHL spotlights and red lights and reluctantly call up the kid.The plan for his $3.55-million goaltender? Practice.Yep, we’re talking about practice.“We know Ilya has gone through a difficult time,” Treliving told reporters Tuesday, following the Leafs’ morning skate at Crypto.com Arena. “I just felt strongly we had to do something different to help Ilya.”While Samsonov was waived to the AHL and prospect Dennis Hildeby recalled prior to the club’s California road trip...

Court injunction against law banning public drug use disappointing, say police chiefs

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:36 GMT

VANCOUVER — A top British Columbia law enforcement official says a recent court decision placing a temporary injunction on a law to restrict public drug use takes away police enforcement tools.Vancouver Police Department Deputy Chief Const. Fiona Wilson, who’s also president of the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police, says officers are disappointed with the B.C. Supreme Court decision last week that blocks the provincial law.Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson ruled in favour of an application by the Harm Reduction Nurses Association and imposed the temporary injunction until March 31, pending a constitutional challenge of the law, saying “irreparable harm will be caused” if it comes into force.The Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act was passed by the legislature in November, allowing fines and imprisonment for refusal to comply with police orders not to consume drugs in places including parks, beaches, sports fields and near business entrances and bus stop...

Gypsy Rose Blanchard is free, reflects on prison term for conspiring to kill her abusive mother

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:36 GMT

Gypsy Rose Blanchard said she has found a way to forgive her mother — and herself. But it has been a long journey from years of abuse and the darkest parts of her life splashed across tabloids to living in prison.Blanchard, now 32, was paroled last week from a Missouri women’s prison. Her release came 8 1/2 years after she persuaded her boyfriend at the time to kill her abusive mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard — in a desperate bid to be free of her. For years, her mother forced her to pretend that she was suffering from leukemia, muscular dystrophy and other serious illnesses.“At first I was really angry with her, very confused. And I’m still confused,” Blanchard told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday. “But I understand that she had a lot of mental issues. And so I think that’s brought me to a place of forgiveness by just trying to understand where she was coming from. I don’t believe that she was evil.“I know, that she was very sick,” she cont...

Transat flight attendants reject tentative contract deal

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:36 GMT

MONTREAL — Flight attendants at Air Transat have voted to reject a tentative deal with the Canadian leisure carrier.The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents the 2,100 flight attendants at the airline, says more than 98 per cent of workers voted against the tentative contract reached Dec. 14. The union says it will be back at the bargaining table with Transat later this week.In November, Air Transat flight attendants voted to approve a strike mandate if a new contract cannot be reached.But CUPE says there is currently no timetable for a strike.The collective agreement for Air Transat’s flight attendants based at airports in Montreal and Toronto expired on Oct. 31, 2022.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2024.Companies in this story: (TSX:TRZ)The Canadian Press

Body of missing Florida woman found in retention pond after nearly 12 years, volunteer divers say

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:36 GMT

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — A group of volunteer divers believe they have found the remains of a woman in a vehicle submerged in a retention pond near Walt Disney World, apparently solving a 12-year-old mystery about what happened to her.Divers from Sunshine State Sonar said they believe they found the remains of Sandra Lemire on Saturday while diving in a small retention pond at the Disney World exit on Interstate 4 in Kissimmee, Florida. Lemire disappeared in May 2012. She was last seen leaving a restaurant in Kissimmee, driving the minivan that was found.The group of divers had been searching for Lemire in 63 bodies of water over the last year and a half. Last week, a tip from an Orlando Police Department detective about the location of a cellphone tower that last received a call from Lemire’s phone helped them narrow the search to the retention pond, the group said in a statement on social media.“We located what appeared to be a minivan submerged in 14 feet of water,” the state...

Coach-to-player comms, sideline tablets tested in bowl games, but some schools decided to hold off

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:36 GMT

Billy Edwards Jr. became a test pilot of sorts for the type of helmet communication technology that might soon become commonplace in college football.And the Maryland quarterback was a fan.“I think overall it was good,” Edwards said after the Terrapins beat Auburn in the Music City Bowl. “On one of my runs down there at the goal line on I think the first or second drive, (offensive coordinator Josh) Gattis is up there, and most times I think I’m thinking the same thing he’s saying, but he was saying they were in like a stick coverage, kind of like a zero look, and he was like, ‘Pull, pull, pull it.’ He just confirmed what I was thinking.”In the aftermath of the Michigan sign-stealing scandal, the possibility of college teams using NFL-style communication technology has been viewed with a little more urgency. And with non-playoff bowls sometimes looking more like 2024 exhibition games than 2023 postseason games, teams have taken advantage of the opportunity to try out various d...

Kane County 'party mom' charged with DUI crash that injured kids

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:36 GMT

GENEVA, Ill. — A Geneva mother with a history of DUI charges and convictions – who described herself to officers as a “party mom” - has been charged in a new crash that injured two kids. She has already been released pending trial.Lisa Tegeler, 39, is charged with aggravated DUI, endangering the life of a child and possession of cannabis by a driver after a crash New Year’s night crash outside of Elburn. The Kane County Sheriff’s Office says Tegelar was driving when her car went off the road just before midnight and rolled on its side.  ‘We are not all bad’: Migrants stuck waiting at O’Hare, facing uncertain future in latest kick of ‘political football’ from Texas Two girls, ages 7 and 8, were inside at the time and sustained bruising and head injuries, according to the sheriff. A police report said testing revealed the alcohol concentration in Tegeler’s blood was .16, twice the legal limit and signs of cannabis in her system.This is the fourth time Tegeler has been charged with d...

25-year-old in the hospital after West Town shooting New Year's Day

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:36 GMT

CHICAGO — A man is in the hospital after a shooting in the city's West Town neighborhood on the morning of New Year's Day, according to the Chicago Police Department.Police said a 25-year-old man was standing in the 1600 block of West Ohio Street around 9:45 a.m. Monday when he noticed five unknown men standing down the street outside of a white vehicle. The 25-year-old got into his vehicle and attempted to drive away when he heard multiple gunshots and felt pain. According to police, he saw the five men enter the white vehicle and flee southbound on North Marshfield Avenue.The victim's roommate told WGN News he took him to the hospital after the shooting and the whole ordeal was a close call. According to the roommate, a bullet went through the hat the 25-year-old was wearing, but he wasn't hit and is doing okay. ‘Those officers were heroes’: 2 adults, toddler pulled to safety after crashing car into pond in Naperville Police said the victim declined treatment at the scene before...

Skilling: Chilly, possible flurries headed for Chicagoland

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:36 GMT

Finally—SUNSHINE TUESDAY!  In fact, Chicagoans saw 90% of the Tuesday (Jan 2's) possible sunshine-- a wonderful development after 8 of the past 13 days produced no sun at all.INTERESTING FACT: Earth will be closer to the Earth than at any time of the year at 6:38 pm CST Tuesday evening—approx 91.4 million miles from the sun. It's a moment astronomers refer to as the Perihelion.  At that time, the Earth will be 3-million miles closer to the sun than will be the case this July 5—the date on which Earth elliptical shaped orbit takes the planet farthest from the sun (over 94 million miles away.  Earth speeds up in its orbit when closer to the sun and since this happens in the midst of the northern hemispheric winter season, winters here are 5 days shorter than summers. That should make many happy!But clouds have been streaming in ahead of a Wednesday cold front which is to sink southward across the area bringing some flurries or a bit of light freezing drizzle in spots tonight—prec...