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Opinion: Rise of illegal machine gun converters endangers police

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:51 GMT

This week, tens of thousands of police officers, deputies, troopers and agents are gathering in our nation’s capital to commemorate Police Week and honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. This year, 556 names have been etched into the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Wall, a solemn reminder of the real dangers our nation’s law enforcement officers face every day.Violent crime in our communities affects all of us, and the danger lands heavily on the shoulders of law enforcement officers who bravely run toward gunfire. Over the last decade, many police departments, sheriffs’ offices and federal law enforcement agencies have faced a sharp decline in recruitment and retention, all while the destructive capacity of weapons in the hands of violent criminals has grown. Fewer officers are facing greater gunfire.The Officer Down Memorial Page reports that last year, 64 officers were killed by gunfire. So far this year, 19 officers have died. These brave men and women risk...

Biden meets with Indo-Pacific leaders at G7 summit while confronting stalemate over US debt limit

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:51 GMT

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — President Joe Biden sought Saturday to rally regional cooperation against China on the margins of the Group of Seven summit while confronting a stalemate in Washington over how to ensure the U.S. avoids default.Hoping to avert an outcome that would rattle the global economy and prove to be a boon to Beijing, Biden opened his third day in Japan at the annual meeting of the world’s most powerful democracies with a staff briefing on the latest fits and starts in talks over how to raise the federal debt limit. The president on Saturday also squeezed in meetings aimed at challenging China’s buildout across the Indo-Pacific, including with the so-called Quad partnership of the U.S., Australia, Japan and India. The Quad members originally had been scheduled to meet in Sydney next week, but rescheduled for the sidelines of the G7 to allow Biden to return to Washington earlier on Sunday in hopes of finalizing a deal to increase the debt ceiling before the U.S. runs ou...

Moore issues first vetoes, lets cannabis search bill and others become law without his signature

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:51 GMT

This content was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.Gov. Wes Moore (D) issued the first vetoes of his administration on Friday. He allowed several others to take effect without his signature. File photo by Bryan P. Sears.Gov. Wes Moore (D) on Friday issued the first vetoes of his young administration and also allowed 10 bills to become law without his signature — including a measure that addresses traffic stops when the odor of cannabis is present and fines for smoking marijuana in public.“This is the last action” by the governor on bills passed during the recent General Assembly session, according to a spokesperson for Moore, Carter Elliott IV.Only one of the governor’s three vetoes actually sends a piece of legislation back to the drawing board; the other two were versions of bills he had previously signed, meaning “it is not necessary for me to sign” the com...

Police investigate shooting in Pompano Beach; 1 dead, 2 hospitalized

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:51 GMT

Broward Sheriff’s Office and Pompano Beach Fire units were dispatched to the scene of a reported shooting in Pompano Beach that left one person dead and two others injured.On Friday, around 11 p.m., a shooting took place near the 600 block of Northwest 20th Street. When officers arrived, they found three people with gunshot wounds. They were all transported to a nearby hospital and the Broward Sheriff’s Office confirmed that one person died after they were taken to the healthcare facility.Live video footage captured detectives on the scene as evidence markers appeared on the pavement.“I heard over 20 shots and all that … All I did was just cover my kid, that’s the only thing I could do,” said a witness nearby who wanted to remain off camera. “When I hear shots, I just cover my kids.”Details are limited as deputies continue investigating the shooting. Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.

SUMMER LIKE WEATHER PATTERN RETURNS

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:51 GMT

Happy Saturday, South Florida!Hopefully everyone had a great week despite the numerous thunderstorms South Florida had to deal with.  After days and days of stormy afternoons, the weather pattern slowly began to change on Friday as most of the thunderstorm activity eventually pushed towards the Gulf Coast. This morning conditions were mostly quiet although a few showers developed across the Florida Keys to start the day. But it wouldn’t be a rainy season morning if temperatures didn’t start in the 80s with humidity levels very high.  And that’s exactly what we experienced this morning as temperatures were in the upper 70s and lower 80s.A high-pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico left South Florida with a steamy west wind, which allowed showers and thunderstorms to favor the East Coast each afternoon. But today things will be different. Our wind pattern has veered out of the East, which means that scattered showers and sea breeze thunderstorms will develop over our inland area...

Amid G7 diplomacy, Biden predicts a debt limit deal will get done

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:51 GMT

HIROSHIMA, Japan — Amid a busy day of diplomacy at the G-7 summit Saturday, President Joe Biden expressed cool confidence that the White House would eventually reach a deal with House Republicans and avoid a catastrophic default on the nation’s debt.Asked if he was worried about the talks hours after his press secretary seemed to indicate that talks had gone off the rails, Biden replied: “Not at all.”Noting that he’s been in the middle of similar negotiations many times over his career in politics, the president spoke about how talks “go in stages.” He appeared relaxed and expressed confidence that “we’ll be able to avoid a default and get something decent done.”Biden made the comments while in the midst of a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was set to host him and the leaders of India and Japan in Sydney next week. The president just days ago canceled that part of his trip so he could return home and deal with the budget impasse and the looming possibili...

Swifties Assemble!: Thousands of fans flock to Foxboro for first of 3 Taylor Swift shows

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:51 GMT

Taylor Swift superfans, rejoice – the musician’s weekend of sold-out “Eras Tour” shows at Gillette Stadium is here.SKY7-HD spotted seemingly endless lines stretching through the premises well before the gates opened for the first of three shows at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.In total, the shows are expected to bring some 200,000 people to the venue through Sunday night.Fans clad in official merch, do-it-yourself-Swift-gear and cowboy boots told 7NEWS they were ecstatic as they waited for Swift’s latest Foxboro show.There was plenty of Taylor-gating underway as well, with fans swapping stories and sharing in the excitement after making the trip, whether they traveled from down the interstate, across the country, or from another part of the world.“We waited 23 years to look at her because we’re from India and she doesn’t come to India,” one fan told 7NEWS with a laugh.Where many drove, some fans rode sold-out MBTA concert trains from Bosto...

Pedestrian medflighted after being struck by vehicle in Leominster

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:51 GMT

A pedestrian was rushed to the hospital by medical helicopter after being struck by a vehicle in Leominster on Friday night.Officers responding to a reported of a pedestrian struck at the intersection of Nichols and Main streets around 9 p.m. found the pedestrian seriously injured and a damaged sedan with a smashed windshield, according to Leominster police.The driver who struck the pedestrian stayed at the scene and cooperated with police.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

DeSantis super PAC tackles tricky task of organizing support for him in Iowa without the candidate

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:51 GMT

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa (AP) — LaTomah Hauff stopped at the red-draped table on her way into Dean’s Classic Car Museum to jot her contact information on a sign-up sheet to hear more about Ron DeSantis. The 75-year-old retired speech pathologist had driven an hour to hear the Florida governor speak in northwest Iowa last Saturday. She was one of more than 600 Iowa Republicans who filed into the exhibit hall and past the display’s brochures about DeSantis and cards to sign pledging support for him in next year’s Republican presidential caucuses.The display, with all the earmarks of a presidential campaign, was the work of Never Back Down, a super political action committee promoting DeSantis while he moves toward a 2024 bid.It was also an early glimpse of how this group — able to receive unlimited sums from wealthy donors, unlike a presidential campaign — plans to build a network of supporters necessary to compete in the caucuses. Essentially, it’s a caucus campaign that,...

NFL great Jim Brown sought solutions in a lifetime devoted to activism

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:51 GMT

Jim Brown’s legs, ever-churning and sturdy as tree trunks, helped propel him to fame on the football field. His voice once he left the gridiron — every bit as powerful.In many ways, Brown, who died Thursday night at 87, used his platform as one of the greatest football players of all time to fight for people very much like him: unsatisfied with the status quo, tired of the withering degradation of racial inequality and, ultimately, never easy to shoehorn into one single, tidy category. Brown was an activist who sat alongside Bill Russell and Muhammad Ali and was on par with Olympic fist-raisers Tommie Smith and John Carlos.Brown was a punishing, once-in-a-lifetime running back who saw more in his journey than football and the cutthroat business it was becoming. He was a fighter for poor minorities, abhorring the gang violence that had taken over in his adopted home of Los Angeles and working for decades to help disadvantaged inner-city kids.Even at the height of his activism, ...