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Sexual assault survivor working to make publication bans a choice for victims

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:32 GMT

A sexual assault survivor is fighting for all survivors to be given a choice on whether they would like to speak out about their experience rather than be silenced by a court-ordered publication ban.Morrell Andrews was sexually assaulted by a 64-year-old man when she was 18 years old and subsequently lost her voice to a gag order when her abuser plead guilty.Now at 28 years old, she is now closer than ever to accomplishing what she and many others have has been asking for for years.She didn’t ask for a publication ban and only found out about it when she wanted to share her victim impact statement. Andrews was told she couldn’t. Her choice was taken away first by the assailant and then again by the courts.“You can’t talk about it and if you do you can be fined $5,000 or go to jail for two years,” explained Andrews. “I couldn’t talk about my experience, that is the most crushing thing to be told,” Andrews told CityNews.“Fundamenta...

$3.28-billion Indigenous-led LNG project gets B.C. environmental certificate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:32 GMT

VICTORIA — The Haisla First Nation on British Columbia’s northern coast has been granted a provincial environmental assessment certificate for a floating liquefied natural gas facility.The B.C. government says the nation, in partnership with Pembina Pipeline Corp., proposes to use electricity to operate the LNG facility and export terminal. The $3.28-billion terminal will be supplied with natural gas from the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which is still under construction. A statement from the province says Environment Minister George Heyman and Energy Minister Josie Osborne made their decision after considering a report by the Environmental Assessment Office. The ministers say in a joint statement that the project takes “all possible measures currently available to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the lowest feasible level.” The ministers say they agreed that the Cedar LNG project also supports reconciliation with the Haisla Nation, and that they received letters of...

Princeton student charged with joining mob’s Capitol attack

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:32 GMT

A Princeton University student was arrested Tuesday on charges that he joined other rioters in pushing against police officers guarding an entrance to the U.S. Capitol during a mob’s attack, court records show.Larry Fife Giberson, 21, of Manahawkin, New Jersey, was at the front line of the mob’s fight against police in a tunnel when one of the officers was briefly crushed between rioters and tunnel doors, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit. Giberson waved other rioters into the tunnel before joining a second round of “heave ho” pushing against police, the agent said.Giberson tried in vain to start a chant of “Drag them out!” and then cheered on rioters using weapons and pepper spray against police in the tunnel, according to the FBI. Giberson remained in that area for roughly an hour on Jan. 6, 2021, the affidavit says.Giberson was arrested in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, on charges including a felony count of civil disorder, according to a court filing. He fac...

Ontario woman charged in doula scam, false pregnancies and stillbirths

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:32 GMT

A 24-year-old Brantford woman is facing several charges, including three counts of sexual assault, after she allegedly sought out registered doulas from across Ontario for false pregnancies and stillbirths.Police say the alleged scams occurred between June 19, 2022, and February 17, 2023. A doula is a woman employed to guide and support a woman during labour, often done virtually and in person.On March 13, the woman was arrested and charged with offences alleged to have happened in multiple communities within Ontario. Police say there are believed to be multiple victims.The accused was identified as 24-year-old Kaitlyn Braun of Brantford. She was charged with 10 counts of criminal harassment, 12 counts of false pretenses, four counts of fraud, three counts of sexual assault and three counts of committing an indecent act.Police say they released Braun’s name, hoping it will lead to more victims coming forward.

16 migrants detained after cargo ship jump in Puerto Rico

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:32 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Federal authorities are investigating a group of at least 16 migrants who apparently were stowaways aboard a cargo ship headed to Puerto Rico and jumped into the ocean as it neared the U.S. territory on Tuesday.The incident occurred in San Juan Bay and was recorded by onlookers as all but two migrants hurled themselves into the water and were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. Two female migrants who remained aboard the cargo ship also were detained, Jeffrey Quiñones, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told The Associated Press.The cargo ship had departed from Jacksonville, Florida, but officials suspect the migrants might have scrambled aboard the ship in waters near the Dominican Republic after abandoning a small boat in that area, Quiñones said.Authorities had not yet determined where the migrants are from or why they jumped into the water, but they were in good condition overall, he said. The Associated Press

MP Yasir Naqvi drops parliamentary role in possible provincial Liberal leadership bid

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:32 GMT

OTTAWA — Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi has stepped down from his role as a parliamentary secretary in order to possibly run for leadership of the provincial Liberals.Naqvi will continue to hold his Ottawa Centre seat but will no longer act as the parliamentary secretary for both the president of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and the minister of emergency preparedness.His office confirmed in a written statement that Naqvi is taking the step as he “explores the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party.”Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair wished Naqvi well in a tweet, saying the pair had “worked to strengthen emergency management in Canada.”Naqvi was elected federally in 2021 but had served for nearly nine years at Queen’s Park, including as Ontario’s attorney general and labour minister.The Ontario Liberal Party has had an interim leader since last June’s provincial election, and has yet to set a date for selecting the party’s...

Woman who pretended to be sick Marine gets nearly 6 years

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:32 GMT

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A former social worker at a Rhode Island veterans’ hospital who used stolen patient information to brazenly pass herself off as a decorated Marine Corps veteran with cancer and fraudulently collect nearly $300,000 in benefits, charitable contributions, and donations was sentenced Tuesday to nearly six years in prison.Sarah Jane Cavanaugh, 32, attended public events in uniform where she spoke about the struggles veterans face, bought a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star to wear, and was even named commander of a Veterans of Foreign Wars post. Then, in early 2022 she was exposed when a charity she applied to for funds became suspicious and started checking her background.“Sarah Cavanaugh’s conduct in the course of her scheme is nothing short of appalling,” U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha said in a statement. “By brazenly laying claim to the honor, service, and sacrifice of real veterans, this defendant preyed on the charity and decency of others for her own shame...

Mexican soldiers find 1.8 million fentanyl pills in Tijuana

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:32 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Defense Department said Tuesday that soldiers found over 1.83 million fentanyl pills at a stash house in the border city of Tijuana. The department said in a statement that soldiers staked out the house Sunday after authorities received a tip that the site was being used for drug trafficking. After obtaining a search warrant, soldiers found the nearly 2 million synthetic opioid pills and 880 pounds (400 kilograms) of meth at the house, the statement said. No arrests were made. Mexican cartels have used the border city to press fentanyl into counterfiet pills. They then smuggle those pills into the United States.The raid produced one of the largest seizures of fentanyl in Mexico in recent months and came only one day before President Andrés Manuel López Obrador claimed that fentanyl isn’t made in Mexico. He made that assertion in comments arguing that fentanyl is the United States’ problem, not Mexico’s.The Associated Press

ComEd bribery trial begins for 4 accused of influencing Michael Madigan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:32 GMT

CHICAGO — Jury selection began Tuesday in the ComEd bribery case.U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber — who, just months ago presided over the high-profile R. Kelly child pornography trial — questioned more than 90 potential jurors throughout the day, dismissing nearly 30 of them. The selection process is set to resume Wednesday morning at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.The four defendants, charged in November 2020, are former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore; former ComEd Vice President and lobbyist John Hooker; Jay Doherty, a former ComEd contractor and President of the City Club of Chicago; and Michael McClain, a former ComEd lobbyist and consultant who, for decades, has been a close confidant of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Chicago man files class action suit against Buffalo Wild Wings, says boneless wings are just nuggets Federal prosecutors allege the four defendants “conspired with outside consultants to corruptly influence and reward” Madigan, who, as Hou...

Joey's Red Hots in Morgan Park holds fundraiser for fallen CPD officer Andres Vasquez Lasso

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:32 GMT

CHICAGO — Grills were fired up and employees worked diligently to keep up with demand from orders that held a special meaning in Morgan Park Tuesday.Joey's Red Hots on the corner of Western Avenue and West 115th Street held a fundraiser in honor of fallen Chicago police officer Andres Vasquez Lasso, with all proceeds going toward his loved ones."100% of the profits that's coming in today goes to the family," said Nick Iozzo, owner of Joey's Red Hots.Vasquez Lasso was shot and killed in the line of duty responding to a domestic disturbance call in Gage Park on March 1. Since then, there has been an outpouring of comfort and support for those he left behind."So many people are coming out just for that reason," Iozza said. "It makes you feel good." CPD honors fallen Officer Vasquez-Lasso during graduation ceremony Among those who came out to support the Vasquez Lasso family Tuesday was Charles Knight, who has dealt with similar tragedy himself. His brother — also a CPD officer — was ...