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Who is Mike Johnson? New House speaker is a strong Trump ally and a quiet force among Republicans

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:19 GMT

A low-key lawmaker in Congress for less than a decade, new House Speaker Mike Johnson isn’t recognizable to most Americans. But the social conservative and devoted ally of former President Donald Trump has been a quiet force within the Republican conference he now unexpectedly leads. Most important, for now, he was able to get all of their 220 votes to become speaker on the House floor. That’s something none of his more well-known colleagues were able to do, as Republicans struggled for more than three weeks to pick a replacement for ousted Kevin McCarthy. Colleagues say the Louisiana Republican who calls himself a servant will be a steady hand and give them a fresh start. Many hope they will finally be able to move past the seemingly intractable divisions within their conference that have felled every House GOP leader in the past decade.“A friend to all and an enemy to none,” Republican conference chairwoman Elise Stefanik said when nominating Johnson ahead of the speaker vot...

Oregon Supreme Court to decide if GOP senators who boycotted Legislature can run for reelection

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:19 GMT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Supreme Court will decide whether Republican state senators who carried out a record-setting GOP walkout during the legislative session this year can run for reelection.The decision, announced Tuesday, means the lawmakers should have clarity before the March 12 deadline to file for office, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.The senators from the minority party are challenging a 2022 voter-approved constitutional amendment that bars state lawmakers from reelection after having 10 or more unexcused absences. Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved the ballot measure that created the amendment following Republican walkouts in the Legislature in 2019, 2020 and 2021.In an official explanatory statement, as well as in promotional materials and news coverage, the measure was touted as prohibiting lawmakers who stay away in order to block legislative action from seeking reelection.That’s the meaning that state elections officials have chosen to adopt. Earlier th...

Former US Rep. Mark Walker drops North Carolina gubernatorial bid to run for Congress

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:19 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Just after the North Carolina General Assembly gave final approval Wednesday to a new congressional map favoring Republicans, a former congressman announced he is dropping out of the Republican primary for governor to try to win back his seat in the U.S. House.Ex-U.S. Rep. Mark Walker, a former Baptist pastor from Greensboro, launched a bid Wednesday to reclaim the district he had represented on Capitol Hill for six years. He held the seat until a previous redistricting cycle opened the door for Democratic Rep. Kathy Manning to take office. “I didn’t really leave voluntarily,” Walker said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Now that the General Assembly has restored the 6th District to how it’s historically been represented, which is conservative Republican, it felt like this was the right time to reengage with everything going on in the country.”The Republican-led General Assembly approved a plan Wednesday for North Carolina’s 14 U.S. House seats,...

Turbocharged Otis caught forecasters and Mexico off-guard. Scientists aren’t sure why

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:19 GMT

Hurricane Otis turned from mild to monster in record time, and scientists are struggling to figure out how — and why they didn’t see it coming.Usually reliable computer models and the forecasters who use them didn’t predict Otis’ explosive intensification, creating a nightmare scenario of an unexpectedly strong storm striking at night. Acapulco was told to expect a tropical storm just below hurricane strength, but 24 hours later, Otis blasted onto the Mexican coast with 165 mph (266 kph) winds, the strongest landfall of any East Pacific hurricane.In just 12 hours, Otis’ strength more than doubled from 70 mph (113 kph) winds to 160 mph (257 kph), also a record, as it neared the coast. And it got even stronger before it struck. Storms typically gain or lose a few miles per hour in 12 hours, though some outliers gain 30 to 50 mph (48 to 80 kph) in a day.What happened with Otis was just plain nuts, said University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy. But it coincides with ...

Kansas court system down nearly 2 weeks in ‘security incident’ that has hallmarks of ransomware

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:19 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials are calling a massive computer outage that’s kept most of the state’s courts offline for two weeks a “security incident” and, while they had not provided an explanation as of Wednesday, experts say it has all the hallmarks of a ransomware attack.The disruption has left attorneys unable to search online records and forced them to file motions the old fashioned way — on paper. Courts are limping along, although the growing piles of paper are a mess that will have to be sorted and scanned eventually. “It’s really just slowed the whole system down,” said Chris Joseph, a Lawrence-based criminal defense attorney. Since 2019, ransomware groups have targeted 18 state, city or municipal court systems, said analyst Allan Liska of the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. That includes one in Dallas, where some jury trials had to be canceled this year. But state-focused attacks have been much less frequent, and have not yet rivaled what is happeni...

No criminal charges in sandwich shop car crash that killed 14-year-old in Hinsdale

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:19 GMT

HINSDALE, Ill. — No criminal charges will be filed against the teenage driver who crashed into a Hinsdale sub shop this summer, killing a 14-year-old boy. Sean Richards was critically injured and later died after being struck by a jeep driving out of Fuller’s Car Wash on July 21. The car crashed into Fontano’s Subs near the intersection of Chicago Avenue and Lincoln Street in Hinsdale. Three other people were hurt. MORE WESTERN SUBURBS NEWS: Swastika found carved into playground equipment at Downers Grove schoolA joint investigation with the Hinsdale Police Department found the 16-year-old was working at Fuller's Car Wash across the street. The investigation found that the teenager was pulling out of the car wash tunnel when he accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake. Calling the death of Sean Richards a "horrible accident," a joint statement from DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and Hinsdale Chief of Police Brian King concl...

Magnet schools families struggle as bus shortage continues

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:19 GMT

CHICAGO — For thousands of Chicago Public School families, it’s been a tumultuous school year. The loss of bus service for close to 5,500 magnet and selective enrollment students due to a shortage of drivers has created a hardships for many. The key component that makes magnet and other selective-enrollment schools work is busing.  For decades now, magnet school children have had to crisscross Chicago and travel from far away neighborhoods in order to foster diverse student bodies and equitable access. But the drastic curtailment of bus service this year plunged a significant number working-class CPS families into crisis.   Rosana Tanon’s 9-year-old twins have attended Inter-American Magnet School near Wrigley Field since kindergarten.“There‘s no way I can get the kids to school because they don’t open the door until 15 minutes before 9 a.m.,” she said. CPS seeking bus drivers as shortage leaves students finding other ways to get to, from school The family lives in Hermosa Park an...

Illinois House approves staff unionization, GOP questions whether it's necessary

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:19 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The speaker of the Illinois House on Wednesday won approval for allowing legislative staff to organize for collective bargaining, overcoming Republican objections about whether it's necessary.Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch's legislation, endorsed 74-35 on a largely partisan vote, would allow legislative coordinators, subject-matter specialists, mailroom employees, custodians, doorkeepers providing security and others to unionize.After Oregon allowed legislative aides to unionize in 2021, the movement has gained momentum. California endorsed collective bargaining last month but efforts in other states, such as Washington, have so far stalled. Maine allowed some staff unionization in the early 2000s. USPS touts crackdown on postal crime, carrier robberies, with hundreds of arrests Welch urged lawmakers to discard “finite” thinking when they're engaged in “an infinite game," responsible for improving the machinations of government for the future.“Everyone...

Poison specialist charged with fatally poisoning his wife

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:19 GMT

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Authorities in Minnesota have arrested and charged a Wichita woman's husband in her murder. On August 16, Betty Bowman, 32, a Mayo Clinic pharmacist, was admitted to a hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, with severe gastrointestinal distress and dehydration — similar to food poisoning. She died on August 20. Connor Bowman (Courtesy: Olmsted County Sheriff's Office)Betty's husband, Dr. Connor F. Bowman, a former Mayo Clinic resident, was arrested on Friday, Oct. 20, and he has been charged with second-degree murder — with intent-not premeditated, in her death. His bond has been set at $5 million with no conditions. According to a criminal complaint and statement of probable cause filed on Monday, Oct. 23, in Olmsted County, Minnesota, the medical examiner alerted the Rochester Police Department to Betty's suspicious death on August 21, and her cremation was halted. That's when authorities began investigating Betty's husband.The complaint says Connor Bowman was a ...

Deer crashes through window at Pennsylvania middle school

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:19 GMT

BERWICK, Penn. (WBRE/WYOU) — A deer crashed through the window of a middle school classroom in Pennsylvania and ran down a hallway, causing a commotion Wednesday morning. Berwick Middle School officials said a teacher was inside the room when the deer bolted through the window around 9:30 a.m. The animal then went into another classroom, startling a small group of students and a teacher. The group immediately exited the room and locked the deer inside, according to officials. No one was injured. "We were fortunate of the timing that it had happened," said Greg Daily, the supervisor of the Berwick Area School District Police Department. "If it would’ve been six minutes or so earlier, there would’ve been students and staff in the hallway." WATCH: Deer run through field during high school soccer game Berwick and Salem Township police officers responded to the school and helped put a blanket over the deer's head. They then brought the deer outside before the Pennsylvania Game Commissi...