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Americans can now get an updated COVID-19 vaccine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:32 GMT

By MIKE STOBBE and LAURAN NEERGAARD (AP Medical Writers)Most Americans should get an updated COVID-19 vaccine, health officials said Tuesday.Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed the new shots for everyone 6 months and older and the agency’s director quickly signed off Tuesday on the panel’s recommendation. That means doses should be available this week, some as early as Wednesday.The severity of the COVID-19 pandemic has faded, but there are still hundreds of hospitalizations and hundreds of deaths in the U.S. each week. Hospitalizations have been increasing since late summer, though the latest data indicate infections may be starting to level off, particularly in the South.Still, experts worry that immunity from previous vaccinations and infections is fading in many people, and a new shot would save many lives.According to a survey last month that CDC cited, about 42% said they would definitely or probably get the new vaccine. Yet only abo...

A list of some of those found not criminally responsible by a court

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:32 GMT

VANCOUVER — Blair Donnelly, 64, faces three counts of aggravated assault over allegations he stabbed and injured three people at a Vancouver Chinatown festival on Sunday. Donnelly was free on day release from the forensic psychiatric hospital in Metro Vancouver. He was originally in care after being found not criminally responsible for the 2006 murder of his 16-year-old daughter. Here’s a look at some other cases in which the finding was made or sought.Matthew de Grood: Stabbed five young people to death in a Calgary house party in 2014. A judge found him not criminally responsible for the murders because he was suffering from schizophrenia. Gregory Despres: Fatally stabbed two elderly neighbours in Minto, N.B., in 2005, decapitating one of them. Despres, a naturalized U.S. citizen, had crossed the border despite guards finding him with a small arsenal including a chainsaw, a sword and brass knuckles. He told them he was an assassin on a military mission. Three psychiatrists diagnos...

Video shows white sheriff’s deputy in upstate New York fatally shooting 2 Black teens in fleeing car

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:32 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s attorney general released video Tuesday of a county sheriff’s deputy fatally shooting two Black teenagers in a fleeing car, raising questions about whether the officer needed to use deadly force to avoid being run over.Attorney General Letitia James released the video as part of her office’s investigation into the fatal shooting last Wednesday of Dhal Apet, 17, and Lueth Mo, 15, by an Onondaga County Sheriff’s deputy. Deputy John Rosello was investigating a smoke shop burglary in the Syracuse area that morning and had responded to a call about people seen transferring items between two vehicles.Rosello did not activate his body camera before the confrontation. But video shot by a surveillance camera across the street shows the deputy’s SUV speed into a small parking lot and use its front bumper to pin one of the cars against a row of tall bushes. The deputy gets out of his SUV and stands for just a moment in front of the car in ...

Wisconsin’s Democratic governor rejects GOP’s surprise redistricting plan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:32 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers shot down as “bogus” a surprise plan Republicans floated Tuesday that would have the Legislature approve new maps drawn by nonpartisan staff, preempting the state Supreme Court from tossing the current GOP-drawn boundaries.The Republican move comes as Wisconsin justices are considering two Democratic-backed lawsuits seeking to toss the current maps, first enacted in 2011, that are among the most gerrymandered in the country and have helped Republicans increase their majority.Republicans have long opposed plans put forward by Democrats to enact a nonpartisan redistricting process. But now, faced with the likelihood that the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court was going to throw out their maps ahead of the 2024 election, Republicans proposed enacting a new system modeled after neighboring Iowa.“If you’re sick of the arguing, if you’re sick of the vitriol, if you want people to work together, this is a better way for us to do...

Filmmakers, celebs ask TIFF to cut ties with sponsor RBC over environmental concerns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:32 GMT

TORONTO — A group of Canadian filmmakers have joined forces with Hollywood A-listers in asking the Toronto International Film Festival to end sponsorship ties with the Royal Bank of Canada because of the financial institution’s funding of the oil and gas industry.Organizers of the campaign, called RBC Off Screen, say the bank’s track record of investing in fossil fuels runs contrary to the socially progressive values the film festival purports to stand for.Signatories to the group’s open letter to TIFF outlining its concerns include screen stars Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Joaquin Phoenix, alongside filmmakers and producers including Avi Lewis, Elza Kephart and Jose Luis Gutierrez.Kephart and Gutierrez started the campaign, which they say is supported by more than 200 entertainment industry workers. The group’s statement says RBC is one of the largest financiers of oil and gas projects in the world and supports projects that have negatively impacted Indi...

At least 10 Malian soldiers killed in latest attack in hard-hit northern region

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:32 GMT

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — At least 10 government soldiers were killed Tuesday during an attack by armed groups in northern Mali, the nation’s armed forces said, amid ongoing deadly violence in the hard-hit region and as United Nations peacekeepers continue their withdrawal.A coalition of former rebels known as the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security and Development claimed responsibility for the attack in the city of Bourem in Gao region and said they have captured parts of the city. The development signaled a failure of a 2015 agreement which the former rebels signed with Malian authorities to stop their rebellion.Malian security forces repelled “the attack with booby-trapped vehicles by several terrorists aboard several vehicles and motorcycles in the locality of Bourem,” according to a statement issued by Col. Souleymane Dembelé, a spokesman for the Malian Armed Forces. He said 13 soldiers were wounded in the incident while 46 of the attackers were killed.Claiming respons...

Court docs: 911 call from Lyft driver leads to police interrupting man trying to drown 2-year-old son

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:32 GMT

CHICAGO — It was a call to police from a concerned Lyft driver that reportedly played a part in leading officers to interrupting what they suspect was a drowning in progress.Jeremiah Campbell, 29, is charged with attempted murder, child endangerment, and violating an order of protection in connection to a 2021 case.According to court documents filed in Cook County, a Lyft driver called police right after he dropped off a man and child — now identified as Campbell and his son — in the 7700 block of S. South Shore Drive. The driver told authorities he was concerned with what the father was reportedly saying on the ride to the location.A Chicago Police Department arrest report said the driver told police Campbell was talking about conspiracies and drowning his son as a sacrifice to Jehovah.It was around the same time that 911 call was made, that an arrest report shows an anonymous call was made from someone at that same address, who said his two-year-old son drowned in the tub.“It was ...

Libraries in Aurora, Evanston & Addison targeted by bomb threats

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:32 GMT

CHICAGO — Police were called to several libraries in the Chicago area on Tuesday in regard to bomb threats. Police in Aurora continue to investigate the threats but officers in Evanston and Addison say the threats were not substantiated.  Chicago fire truck crashes into home on South Side; 2 displaced Threats in AuroraPolice in Aurora say officers are investigating reports of bomb threats at three Aurora libraries on Tuesday afternoon. Aurora police first notified the public about the threats in a tweet shared around 3 p.m. In a follow-up post, officers asked the public to avoid areas near the 100 block of South River Street, areas near the 500 block of South Eola Road, and areas near the 200 block of South Constitution Drive, while they work to evacuate and shut down roadways. Police have not offered updates regarding how the threats were placed, but say officers are on scene at all three locations.  ‘This is crazy’: Investigation underway after string ...

Aaron Rodgers' injury means the Packers won't get a first-round pick from Jets in next year's draft

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:32 GMT

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ torn left Achilles tendon is costing his former team a chance at an extra first-round pick in next year’s draft.That's because the four-time MVP’s inability to play will cost the Green Bay Packers a first-round draft pick.Part of the package the Jets used to acquire Rodgers included compensation in the 2024 draft. Under the terms of the deal, the Packers would get a 2024 first-round pick only if Rodgers played 65% of the Jets’ snaps during the 2023 season.Now that Rodgers’ season is likely over, the Packers will get a second-round pick instead. Aaron Rodgers’ first season with the Jets is over Rodgers had taken just his fourth regular-season snap for the Jets when he was brought down by Buffalo’s Leonard Floyd during New York’s 22-16 overtime victory over the Bills. An MRI on Tuesday confirmed Rodgers has a torn Achilles tendon, a person told The Associated Press while speaking on condition of anon...

DePaul, athletic director DeWayne Peevy agree to a contract extension through June 2027

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:32 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — DePaul and athletic director DeWayne Peevy have agreed to a contract extension through June 2027, the school announced Tuesday.A longtime college athletics administrator, Peevy was hired in August 2020. The extension comes after the school recently announced plans for an on-campus basketball practice facility that it hopes will lift its long struggling men's program and help its women's team remain successful. The school also plans to give other athletic facilities an extensive makeover. Tickets to see Lionel Messi face Chicago Fire FC are in demand Peevy spent 12 years prior to his arrival at DePaul in Kentucky’s athletic department, going from a role in media relations to deputy athletic director, and oversaw the Wildcats’ powerhouse basketball program. He was the SEC’s media relations director before that.