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Child rights advocates ask why state left slain 5-year-old Kansas girl in a clearly unstable home

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:08 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Zoey Felix’s short life was filled with turbulence.Before the 5-year-old Topeka girl was raped and killed, worried neighbors say they saw her wandering, dirty and hungry. Police were called to her home dozens of times. Teachers raised alarms when she missed preschool. Both parents alleged abuse. Zoey’s mom was jailed for a drunken car crash with Zoey in the front seat. State welfare officials were notified.In September, Zoey and her father moved out, and neighbors believe they began camping in a nearby vacant lot. Weeks later, Zoey was killed — efforts to save her in a gas station parking lot were unsuccessful — and Mickel Cherry, a 25-year-old homeless man, was charged in her death.Public anger over Zoey’s Oct. 2 death has focused on her parents. But child advocates are asking why police and the state’s embattled Department for Children and Families left the bubbly and curious girl in a dangerous environment. “Our society’s collective failure t...

A couple with powerful help is asking the Supreme Court for a ruling that could affect a wealth tax

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:08 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Charles and Kathleen Moore are about to have their day in the Supreme Court over a $15,000 tax bill they contend is unconstitutional.The couple from Redmond, Washington, claim they had to pay the money because of their investment in an Indian company from which, as Charles Moore, 62, said in a sworn statement, they “have never received a distribution, dividend, or other payment.”But significant parts of the story they have told to reach this point seem at odds with public records.The Moores are the public face of a high court case backed by business and conservative political interests that could call into question other parts of the U.S. tax code and rule out a much-discussed but never-enacted tax on wealth. The case is set for arguments on Dec. 5. The Moores are the latest example of plaintiffs whose lawsuits seem to simply be exercising their legal rights, but whose cases are backed by others with enormous amounts of money or a consequential social issue at stak...

4 in custody after collision in Brampton

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:08 GMT

Four people are in custody after a two-vehicle collision in Brampton on Sunday morning.Police responded to a call at approximately 1:17 a.m. for reports of a collision in the Bramalea Road and Clark Boulevard area of Brampton.Two vehicles were involved, one driver went to trauma centre in serious but none-life-threatening condition.Four males fled on foot. Police say they are all in custody. Bramalea Road is closed from Knightsbridge Road to Balmoral Drive and Clark Boulevard is closed from Kings Cross Road to Edenborough Drive for investigation.COLLISION: – Bramalea Rd/Clark Bv #Brampton – 2 vehicles – 1 driver went to trauma centre in serious condition – 4 males fled on foot. All in custody. – Closure: Clark from Kings Cross to Edenborough & Bramalea from Balmoral to Knightsbridge – C/R 1:17 a.m. – PR23-0333721— Peel Regional Police (@PeelPolice) October 15, 2023

The war between Israel and Hamas is testing the Republican Party’s isolationist shift

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:08 GMT

ROCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Nikki Haley vowed to stand with Israel “every step of the way.” She promised to “decimate” the Iranian economy. And she called for continued funding for Ukraine as it fights to repel the Russian invasion. “It’s a dangerous world right now,” Haley told Republican primary voters gathered inside New Hampshire’s American Legion Post No. 7 as a new war raged in the Middle East. “And this is gonna get messier before it gets better.”Less than 24 hours later, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told New Hampshire business leaders that the United States should stop funding Ukraine until there is a clear strategy. He was more focused on what he saw as a threat posed by foreign nationals at the U.S.-Mexico border. And Israel, he said, has a right to defend itself.“I don’t think there’s going to be a lot we even need to do militarily,” DeSantis said of the war between Israel with Hamas. “We may have to provide some additional support like we’ve traditionally done, but I...

Venice mayor orders halt to buses operated by company following second crash that injured 15

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:08 GMT

ROME (AP) — The mayor of Venice ordered an immediate stop to electric buses operated by La Linea company after a bus crashed in the Italian city, injuring 15 people. This is the company’s second accident following the fiery Oct.3 collision that killed 21 people. The bus crashed Saturday evening into a building in Mestre, a Venice borough. The injured were not in serious condition, Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said in a statement.On Oct. 3, an all-electric bus — carrying foreign tourists — fell from an elevated street in Mestre en route to a camping site near the community of Marghera. The bus fell a few meters before crashing close to railway tracks, where it caught fire.The Italian driver and 20 foreign tourists were killed. City officials suggested the driver, Alberto Rizzotto, who had an untarnished record, may have suffered a heart attack. But according to the local daily Corriere del Veneto, preliminary results of his autopsy dispelled that.The investigation is still ongoing. The Assoc...

More than 50 Indigenous fish harvesters in the Maritimes charged or on trial: Ottawa

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:08 GMT

HALIFAX — Three years after a First Nation started a self-regulated lobster fishery that sparked protests and violence in Nova Scotia, federal prosecutors are pressing ahead with charges against dozens of Indigenous fishers, some of whom are planning constitutional challenges.On Sept. 17, 2020, the Sipekne’katik First Nation issued five lobster licences to its members, saying they could trap and sell their catch outside the federally regulated season.The bold move came exactly 21 years after the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the treaty right of Indigenous groups in Eastern Canada to hunt and fish for a moderate livelihood, but interpretations of that landmark ruling remain in dispute.In the months that followed the start of Sipekne’katik’s “moderate livelihood fishery,” there were confrontations on the water, rowdy protests and riots at two lobster pounds, one of which was razed by a deliberately set fire. The fishing and the violent response have le...

6 killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine as Kyiv continues drone counterstrikes

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:08 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Six people have been killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine in the past 24 hours, local officials reported Sunday.Two people were killed and three more injured in the Kherson area after more than 100 shells bombarded the region over the weekend, local governor Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on social media.Two guided bombs later hit key infrastructure in Kherson city, sparking a partial blackout and disruption to the area’s water supply, reported the head of the city’s military administration, Roman Mrochko.Local officials said two more people had died in the Donetsk area and that a 57-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman had been killed by an airstrike that destroyed their home in the Kharkiv region.Meanwhile, the Russian defense ministry announced Sunday that Ukraine had launched 27 drones in an overnight attack on western Russia.Officials said that 18 drones were shot down over the Kursk region, leading to speculation in the Russian press that the attack could have b...

Texas judge says some renters can sue over AC issues

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:08 GMT

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) - The temperatures may have cooled from Central Texas’ stifling hot summer, but some people are still pretty heated up about spending some of those triple-digit days without air conditioning. Jessica Leal is one of them. For about two weeks last month, she said she either had no air conditioning or just a window unit in one room provided by her apartment management company. That’s despite, she said, notifying management several times that she did not have a proper working AC.Jessica Leal believes her 7-year-old daughter, Mackenzie became sick because the AC was not working in their apartment (Courtesy: Jessica Leal)“I’ve had to keep my cool when I’ve called,” she said, even though she, her wife and daughter were sweating it out in their southwest Austin home. “Anywhere from 85 to 90 degrees in our apartment.”Leal said the heat took a toll on her 7-year-old daughter, Mackenzie.“One night she started complaining that she couldn’t breathe and that she wa...

Readers and writers: After 34 years, Patty Wetterling tells the story in her own words

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:08 GMT

As I worked to help my kids feel less scared, I was finding my own way to rebuild our world. It felt like everything that had ever been meaningful to me — every gift, every cherished moment — had been tossed up into the air and was swirling around me like money in a wind machine. Day by day, I pictured myself reaching out and grasping for one thing at a time, clinging to it, then desperately reaching for another one as the storm raged all around me. — from “Dear Jacob”It’s been 34 years since Jacob Wetterling was kidnapped by a masked man as he and his brother, Trevor, and a friend biked near their home in St. Joseph, Minn. The 11-year-old boy’s abduction from a small, peaceful community shocked Minnesota and the nation. And at the center of that story is determined Patty Wetterling, Jacob’s mother, and his dad, Jerry.(Courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society Press)We know what the media told us, but now Patty Wetterling tells her ...

Blues nation gathers at Union Station for season kickoff celebration

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:08 GMT

St. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues made their return to home ice and celebrated the occasion with a massive party at Union Station. Fans gathered with high anticipation as the new season of St. Louis Blues hockey kicked off at the Enterprise Center. After a disappointing 2022–2023 season, fans are eager to see how their favorite players will perform this year.Many believe it will be a different team this season, and they have high hopes for the new leadership. The team is considered a favorite to contend for the top spot in the Central Division. Fans are especially excited to see how the team plays on home ice under the guidance of the new team captain.   Three metros on the verge of passing St. Louis in size The party at Union Station featured live music, local food and drinks, games, and prizes, including pucks autographed by the players. While St. Louis hopes for another Stanley Cup victory, some fans still vividly remember their triumph in 2019. The Blues will have a few da...