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Dealer at Toronto casino accused of cheating with players: Ontario police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:50 GMT

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have made several arrests following allegations of illegal play at a well-known casino in Toronto.Investigators say that Ontario’s Alcohol and Gaming Commission was contacted in October 2022 with allegations that a table games dealer was colluding with patrons at Woodbine Casino in Rexdale.Following a lengthy investigation, the OPP said five people were charged, including the now-former employee, identified as 52-year-old Arthur Segovia of Etobicoke.He faces four charges, including criminal breach of trust, cheat at play, theft over $5,000 and fraud over $5,000.Toronto residents Khalil Evans, 29, Donovan Smyth-Todd, 30, and Daniel Hatton, 25, were charged, along with Oakville resident Andrey Gayle-Bourne, 33, with cheat at play, theft over $5,000 and fraud over $5,000.An OPP spokesperson said the accused were released from custody and are scheduled to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto at later dates.

Lawsuit against Favre should be dismissed, attorneys argue

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:50 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Attorneys for retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre argued in a new court filing Monday that a civil lawsuit against him seeking to recover misspent welfare money in Mississippi’s largest ever corruption case should be should be dismissed because the state Department of Human Services lacks evidence and is attempting to deflect from its own culpability.Millions of federal welfare dollars intended to help low-income Mississippi residents — some of the poorest people in the country — were instead squandered on projects supported by wealthy or well-connected people, including projects backed by Favre, between 2016 and 2019, prosecutors say. In a response to the department’s statements that a judge should ignore Favre’s request to be removed from the lawsuit, Favre’s attorneys wrote there is “no legal, factual, or moral basis” for the agency’s claims.“It is plain that, as it did in its original complaint, MDHS — which itself carried out the allegedl...

AP sources: Trump pleads not guilty to 34 felony charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the matter.The plea came during a brief arraignment in a lower Manhattan courtroom as Trump faced a grand jury indictment arising from a hush money payment to a porn actor during Trump’s 2016 campaign.The two officials who confirmed the plea spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because prosecutors had not yet released the indictment publicly.The arraignment, though procedural in nature, amounts to a remarkable reckoning for Trump after years of investigations into his personal, business and political dealings. The case is unfolding against the backdrop not only of his third campaign for the White House but also against other investigations in Washington and Atlanta that might yet produce even more charges.A silent and stone-faced Trump, his lips pursed in apparent anger, entered ...

NOAA: NJ wind farm may ‘adversely affect,’ not kill whales

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:50 GMT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm may “adversely affect” whales and other marine mammals, but its construction, operation and eventual dismantling will not seriously harm or kill them, a federal scientific agency said.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a report Tuesday evaluating an analysis by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management of the Ocean Wind I project to be built off the southern New Jersey coast.NOAA’s final biological opinion examined BOEM’s research, and took into account “the best scientific and commercial data available.”NOAA determined the project by Danish wind power company Orsted “is likely to adversely affect, but is not likely to jeopardize, the continued existence of any species” of endangered whales, sea turtles and other animals. Nor is it likely to “destroy or adversely modify any designated critical habitat.”The report comes as opposition to offshore wind projects on the U.S. East C...

Jury awards $3.2 million to ex-Tesla worker for racial abuse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:50 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal jury has awarded nearly $3.2 million in damages to a Black former worker at a Tesla factory in California that has been at the epicenter of racial discrimination allegations hanging over the automaker run by billionaire Elon Musk.The verdict reached Monday marks the second time former Tesla employee Owen Diaz has prevailed in trials seeking to hold Tesla liable for allowing him to be subjected to racial epithets and other abuses during his brief tenure at the pioneering maker of electric vehicles.But the eight-person jury in the latest trial, which lasted five days, arrived at a dramatically lower damages number than the $137 million Diaz won in his first trial held in San Francisco federal court. U.S. District Judge William Orrick reduced that award to $15 million, prompting Diaz and his lawyers to seek a new trial rather than accept the lower amount.“If you had just looked at this verdict without knowing the verdict in the first trial, you would say ...

Ontario Ombudsman to investigate cases of people with developmental disabilities stuck in hospitals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:50 GMT

Ontario’s Ombudsman has launched an investigation into cases of people with developmental disabilities stuck in hospitals after a CityNews exclusive story of how a 23-year-old man with autism cannot leave a psychiatric ward for over eight months because there is nowhere else for him to go.The Crooks family from the Owen Sound area first contacted CityNews last month because they weren’t getting the help they needed.Michelle and Sean Crooks have 23-year-old twin sons diagnosed with autism. During COVID-19, their sons struggled without a routine, but Aidan started exhibiting violent tendencies.“I reached a point where I thought no one was coming to help. [They had] nowhere to go. No one cares what happens to him or us. I might have to kill him and myself so Sean and Devlin could have any hope at life and freedom from this horror we were living,” Michelle told CityNews.Aidan has become increasingly dangerous, and the family has become frequent targets of multipl...

READ: Trump indictment and statement of facts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:50 GMT

Former President Trump appeared in a New York courtroom Tuesday afternoon to hear the charges brought against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and read in court by Judge Juan Merchan. Trump pleaded not guilty to nearly three dozen counts.The indictment, which was announced on Thursday and unsealed on Tuesday, includes charges of falsifying business records and other counts in connection with a hush payment that Trump’s former fixer, Michael Cohen, made to adult film star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.Read the grand jury's indictment here.Donald-J.-Trump-IndictmentDownloadAnd read the statement of fact here.Donald-J.-Trump-SOFDownload

Eyedrops maker couldn't ensure factory was sterile, FDA says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:50 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The manufacturer of eyedrops recently linked to deaths and injuries lacked measures to assure sterility at its factory in India, according to U.S. health inspectors.Food and Drug Administration officials uncovered about a dozen problems with how Global Pharma Healthcare made and tested its eyedrops during an inspection from late February through early March. The FDA released its preliminary inspection report Monday.The company uses procedures that can’t actually ensure its products are sterile, FDA staff wrote. In particular, the inspectors found that the plant had used “a deficient manufacturing process” between December 2020 and April 2022 for products that were later shipped to the U.S. The plant in India's southern Tamil Nadu state produced eyedrops that have been linked to 68 bacterial infections in the U.S., including three deaths and eight cases of vision loss. Four people have had their eyeballs surgically removed due to infection. The drops were recalled i...

Trump indicted: Here's what the former president is charged with

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:50 GMT

MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) — Former President Donald Trump has been indicted by the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.The case concerns hush money paid during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Michael Cohen, a key witness in related grand jury proceedings, previously pleaded guilty in connection to payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal, who alleged sexual relationships with Trump.  What is an indictment? Cohen, a former longtime lawyer for the Trump Organization, alleges that the payments were made at Trump’s direction. Trump has denied having sex with either woman, branded Cohen a liar, and maintained his innocence in social media posts.Donald-J.-Trump-IndictmentDownloadAfter a grand jury voted in favor of indictment, Bragg’s office moved to formally charge Trump.Last month, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social: “THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WIL...

Build-A-Bear releases wig-wearing, sequin-donning RuPaul bear

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:50 GMT

(WJW) – Build-A-Bear has launched a new bear with world-famous drag queen and Emmy-award-winning entertainment mogul RuPaul.The bear, which is said to be "ready for any Eleganza Extravaganza," is being sold individually and as part of a "glamazon gift set" that includes gold pumps to go with the bear's blonde wig and gold-sequined dress, according to the listings on the Build-A-Bear website. There's also a "RuPaul’s Drag Race" logo on the bear's paw.  This Ohio city is among Top 5 for most expensive night out in US, study says "Two iconic pop culture institutions join forces for this one-of-a-kind collector's item made in tribute to the world's most famous drag queen," the listing says. "Category is teddy bear realness with RuPaul Bear's signature wig and gold sequin dress included."RuPaul, whose real name is RuPaul Andre Charles, is an actor, model, singer, songwriter, television personality and author, according to IMDb. The entertainer has produced and hosted "RuPaul's Drag Rac...