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Back on Vancouver’s Hastings Street with no tent, no mattress and nowhere to go

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 00:16:11 GMT

VANCOUVER — William James left his tent with his bedroll, his clothes, and his foam mattress on Hastings Street Wednesday morning to visit a friend in Surrey, but when he returned in the afternoon it was all gone. “I spent the day with him because he doesn’t drink and I’m trying to sober up,” James said. “Then I had to sleep outside the bank last night, all night.”Vancouver’s Hastings Street was cleared Wednesday in a co-ordinated effort by city officials and police. It continued Thursday with a heavy police presence as crews worked to clear remaining tents and people’s belongings.James’ tent and “comfy foamy” were tossed away with the rest of his belongings in the initial sweep, and he said he has no form of shelter to keep him out of the rain. Back in the city’s Downtown Eastside on Thursday, James said he’s bounced around for the last year or so, sleeping in a tent at Crab Park before moving to Hastings where many people set u...

No evidence of homicide in case of woman’s remains found in Winnipeg landfill: police

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 00:16:11 GMT

WINNIPEG — The death of an Indigenous woman whose body was found in a landfill was not a homicide, Winnipeg police said Thursday after retracing Linda Beardy’s final hours.Beardy, 33, was seen leaving a store and climbing into a garbage bin, alone, hours before her body was discovered, police Chief Danny Smyth said. “There was some activity observed within the bin and after a short period of time, there was no further activity observed,” Smyth said.About three hours later, a truck picked up and emptied the bin, and carried the contents to the Brady landfill, where Beardy’s body was soon found, he added.The autopsy is ongoing, including toxicology tests, but the medical examiner reported no signs of injuries other than those consistent with being moved around by a truck.“There were no other injuries that suggest any kind of foul play,” Smyth said.“We’re satisfied that this is not a homicide.”Nothing unusual happened in the store a...

Lawsuit challenges Youngkin’s limits on felon voting rights

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 00:16:11 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A discretionary process being used by Virginia Gov. Glenn Younkgin to decide which felons can get their voting rights back is unconstitutional and could lead to decisions based on an applicant’s political affiliations or views, a lawsuit filed Thursday argued.Youngkin’s administration recently confirmed it had shifted away from an at least partly automatic rights restoration system used by his predecessors. The current process conditions the right to vote “on the exercise of unfettered official discretion and arbitrary decision-making,” in violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the lawsuit argued. “Officials with absolute authority to selectively enfranchise U.S. citizens with felony convictions may grant or deny voting rights restoration applications for pretextual reasons or no reason, while secretly basing their decision on information — or informed speculation — on the applicant’s political affiliations or views,” ...

Suspect in custody for possible Northern California shooting

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 00:16:11 GMT

ROSEVILLE, Calif. (AP) — At least three people were hospitalized and a suspect was taken into custody Thursday after a possible shooting in Northern California.A spokesperson for Sutter Roseville Medical Center said three people were at the hospital. It was not immediately clear whether they had gunshot wounds or other injuries, or if there were other victims.Officer Ricardo Ortiz with the California Highway Patrol said a suspect was taken into custody but provided no other details, including whether the suspect had been injured.Roseville is a city of about 150,000 residents roughly 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Sacramento. A large police presence had earlier descended on a park in Roseville for an “active law enforcement situation,” the Roseville Police Department said on Twitter around 1:50 p.m. “The scene is safe at this time,” the police department said about 30 minutes later. People were urged to avoid the area. Earlier, a police dispatcher said the departme...

Israel strikes targets in Gaza, drawing new rocket barrage

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 00:16:11 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military struck targets in the Gaza Strip early Friday, pushing the region toward a wider conflagration after a day of rocket fire along the country’s northern and southern borders following two days of unrest at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site. Gaza militants quickly fired off a new barrage of rockets, setting off air raid sirens across southern Israel.The Israeli airstrikes set off at least four loud explosions in Gaza. The Israeli military said it struck a pair of tunnels and two weapons-manufacturing sites.The sound of outgoing rocket fire could be heard in Gaza.It was the latest signs of rising tensions during a sensitive holiday period. Similar fighting in 2021 led to an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas.The airstrikes came after militants in Lebanon fired a heavy barrage of rockets at Israel earlier in the day, forcing people across Israel’s northern frontier into bomb shelters, wounding at least two people. In Gaza, milit...

Dirty money: Ex-lawmaker gets 2 years for cesspool bribes

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 00:16:11 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — A former Hawaii lawmaker was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison in a federal corruption case that’s drawn attention to a perennial problem in the islands: the tens of thousands of cesspools that release 50 million gallons of raw sewage into the state’s pristine waters every day.Cesspools — in-ground pits that collect sewage from houses and buildings not connected to city services for gradual release into the environment — are at the center of the criminal case against former Democratic state Rep. Ty Cullen. He has admitted to taking bribes of cash and gambling chips in exchange for influencing legislation to reduce Hawaii’s widespread use of cesspools. U.S. District Court Judge Susan Oki Mollway said she gave Cullen a sentence at the shortest end of the term recommended by prosecutors because he had cooperated extensively with investigators. Yet she didn’t go as low as the 15 months requested by his defense attorney because of the serious nature of...

Chicago firefighter dead in high-rise blaze had heart attack

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 00:16:11 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — A firefighter who died while battling a blaze in a high-rise building on Chicago’s North Side died of a heart attack, autopsy results released Thursday showed.Lt. Jan Tchoryk, 55, died of hypertensive-arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, according to the autopsy results released by the Cook County medical examiner.Tchoryk “went down” on the stairs on the building’s 11th floor, Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt told reporters.The blaze was reported before 8 a.m. Wednesday on the 27th floor of the condo and apartment building in the Gold Coast neighborhood. The extra-alarm fire was ruled accidental and started after combustible material was placed “too close to a heat-generating appliance,” Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said Thursday.Tchoryk was the second Chicago firefighter to die this week. Jermaine Pelt, 49, died on Tuesday and two other firefighters were injured while battling a house fire on the city’s South Side. Pelt died of died ...

2 teens shot near Illinois Institute of Technology campus

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 00:16:11 GMT

CHICAGO -- Two teens have been hospitalized after being shot near the Illinois Institute of Technology campus Thursday evening.According to the Chicago Police Department, shots were fired just before 4:30 p.m. Thursday on the 3000 block of South Wabash near the Illinois Institute of Technology campus on the city's south side.An IIT alert to students said there was a report of shots fired near Keating Sports Center, with the suspect vehicle fleeing. Woman’s puppy stolen at gunpoint on Chicago’s South Side Two teens, 16 and 17-years-old, were reportedly walking down the street when a gray Chevy Impala drove by and an occupant exited the vehicle and fired a shot striking the victims.The 16-year-old victim sustained a gunshot wound to the arm and transported to Northwestern Hospital in good condition.The 17-year-old victim was shot on the left side of their body and transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition.No arrests have been made at this time.No ...

Pastor honors fallen CPD officer Andres Vasquez Lasso with sculpture

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 00:16:11 GMT

CHICAGO -- A local pastor and prolific artist honored the memory of fallen a Chicago police officer Thursday.Chicago Police Officer Andres Vasquez Lasso was killed in the line of duty last month.Vásquez Lasso, 32, was investigating a domestic-related call around 4:45 p.m. on March 1 on the 5200 block of South Spaulding when police said 18-year-old Steven Montano shot him.Vásquez Lasso was shot multiple times, CPD Supt. David Brown said. He was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital where he later died. ORIGNIAL: Chicago police officer shot, killed on Southwest Side identified Pastor Roy Yarber Jr. for the King of Kings Missionary Baptist Church reached to officer Andres' widow.Pastor Yarber produced a busy of the fallen patrolman and the artwork will soon be delivered to officer Vasquez Lasso's loved ones.After receiving a grim cancer diagnosis, Pastor Yarber turned to sculpturing.“I told the wife, they’ve given me seven years to live and I’m going to try and do the whole Bible in clay," Pas...

3 men get life for fatal shooting of rapper XXXTentacion

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 00:16:11 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Three men were given life sentences on Thursday for the 2018 killing of star rapper XXXTentacion, who was shot outside a South Florida motorcycle shop while being robbed of $50,000.Michael Boatwright, 28, Dedrick Williams, 26, and Trayvon Newsome, 24, were each convicted last month of first-degree murder and armed robbery by a jury following eight days of deliberations. Prosecutors had not sought the death penalty, so life in prison was the only sentence that Broward County Circuit Judge Michael Usan could impose for the first-degree murder convictions.The defendants, two dressed in suits and one in a button-down shirt, showed little emotion as they stood one by one to be handcuffed by a bailiff. There was no audible reaction from family members or other observers in the courtroom. Before the verdicts were read, Usan warned that anyone who caused any kind of disruption would be held in contempt of court.During the month-long trial, prosecutors linked Boa...