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Tight Chicago mayor’s race between progressive, moderate Dem

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:12:54 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — The candidates for Chicago mayor were in a tight race Tuesday as voters chose between sharply contrasting views on issues including crime, taxes, schools and investment in policing to lead the heavily Democratic city, the country’s third-largest. The race pitted former Chicago schools CEO Paul Vallas, a moderate Democrat endorsed by Chicago’s police union and major business groups, against progressive Brandon Johnson, a former teacher and union organizer backed by the Chicago Teachers Union. With much of the vote counted, the race was neck-and-neck. Vallas and Johnson advanced to the runoff after finishing ahead of current Mayor Lori Lightfoot in a February election, making her the first incumbent in 40 years to seek reelection in the city and lose. The contest has centered on the increase in violent crime during the COVID-19 pandemic and soaring property taxes. With polls closed in the evening, Tuesday’s results also could have implications for Demo...

Israeli police clash with worshipers at Jerusalem holy site

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:12:54 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police raided Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City early Wednesday and attacked Palestinian worshippers, Palestinian media reported, raising fears of wider tension as Islamic and Jewish holidays overlap.The incidents sparked a wave of Palestinian protests, condemnations and violence. The Israeli military said sirens warning of incoming rockets sounded in Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip. Tension has already been high in east Jerusalem and the West Bank for months, and fears of further violence were fueled with the convergence of the Muslim holy fast month and the Passover.Such confrontations at the contested holy compound, the third holiest shrine in Islam that is also the most sacred site in Judaism and referred to as the Temple Mount, have sparked deadly cross-border wars between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers in the past, the last was in 2021.Videos on social media purportedly showed Israeli police officers beating Palestinians with baton...

Bulls clinch a spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:12:54 GMT

CHICAGO - The Bulls will be playing basketball after the conclusion of the regular season this April. How long they'll go is very much to be determined.Thanks to a loss by the Orlando Magic against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday evening, the Bulls have officially locked up a spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. That will give them the chance to advance to the playoffs as either the seventh or eighth seed when it's played April 11-14.This is the first time the Bulls have been in the play-in tournament since it was introduced by the NBA during the 2020-2021 season. The Bulls are currently playing the Hawks at the United Center, sitting as the tenth seed in the Eastern Conference. They still have a chance to move up to as high as the eighth seed as of Tuesday evening.Here are the scenarios for the Bulls in the play-in tournament with three games to go in the season.Should Billy Donovan's team finish as the ninth or tenth seed, they would play their first game on Wedne...

Trump, back home at Mar-a-Lago, condemns charges against him as ‘fake case’

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:12:54 GMT

Anthony Man and Angie DiMichele | South Florida Sun SentinelFormer President Donald Trump returned to South Florida on Tuesday evening after an early afternoon court appearance in New York where he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges.He landed at Palm Beach International Airport at about 6:40 p.m., almost 30 hours after he departed PBIA for the trip to New York for his first appearance in court after last week’s indictment by a Manhattan grand jury.About an hour and a half later he began a speech condemning the prosecution — and other investigations into his conduct — in a televised speech before hundreds of supporters gathered at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach resort club and home.“God bless you all. God bless you all. And I never thought anything like this could happen in America,” he said. “The only crime I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it.”“This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election, and it shou...

Abortion access at stake in Wisconsin Supreme Court race being decided Tuesday

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:12:54 GMT

By SCOTT BAUER (Associated Press)MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin voters were deciding the outcome of the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history on Tuesday in a heated contest that will likely determine the fate of abortion access, the future of Republican-drawn legislative maps, voting rights and years of other GOP policies.The Wisconsin Supreme Court has been under conservative control for 15 years, serving as the final word on a wide array of Republican policies enacted by the GOP-controlled Legislature. The court came within one vote of overturning President Joe Biden’s narrow win in 2020.Democratic-backed candidate Janet Protasiewicz, 60, faces Republican-backed Dan Kelly, 58, in a contest that has nearly tripled the $15 million cost of a 2004 Illinois tilt that had been the most expensive court race in U.S. history.After polls closed Tuesday, all eyes were on the outcome of a race that will determine whether Democratic-backed justices take control of the high court for at ...

Fighting flames with hazardous chemicals

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:12:54 GMT

TROY, N.Y.(NEWS10) – The scene was anything but clean at the laundromat on 5th Avenue in Troy. As the air filled with thick smoke from the fire burning inside the building, some neighbors worried about whether they were exposed to hazardous materials in the smokey air.DEC confirmed the department was not called to Checkerboard Laundry Mat and Dry on Wednesday night. According to the department, laundromats are not as hazardous as drycleaners, which contain more dangerous chemicals in the event of a fire.But Eric Wisher, Troy Fire Union President, says firefighters on the scene made sure to remove any contaminants from their uniforms. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! “That’s what we do. It takes, like today, it probably took them 8 hours and a couple of guys to do all the guys that worked with yesterday’s gear,” he said.First responders also have self-contained breathing apparatuses to help fight the flames through the heavy ...

Dutchess County man arrested in Albany groping incidents

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:12:54 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- An arrest has been made after four reports of forcible touching in the Pine Hills neighborhood. Nathan Holmes, 31, of Red Hook, New York, was arrested Tuesday. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Four reports were made to Albany police on Monday, April 3 where four different female victims stated they were approached from behind and touched on the buttocks by an unknown man. The incidents took place around 3:20 p.m. on Park Avenue, 4:25 p.m. on Hudson Avenue, 4:30 p.m. on Madison Avenue, and 10:20 p.m. in the area of Hudson Avenue and Ontario Street. Holmes was identified as the suspect and taken into custody in Hudson. He was charged with three counts of Forcible Touching and is scheduled to be arraigned in Albany City Criminal Court.

Trump rails against charges in post-arraignment speech at Mar-a-Lago

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:12:54 GMT

Former President Donald Trump delivered a grievance-ridden speech on Tuesday hours after facing arraignment on criminal charges in New York, casting himself as the victim of a political prosecution and railing against what he called a “lawless” justice system bent on ending his political career.Speaking at Mar-a-Lago, his personal residence and private club in Palm Beach, Fla., Trump went on an extended tirade against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who’s office indicted Trump last week in a case involving hush money payments to a porn star to cover up an alleged extramarital affair. The former president maintained his innocence, saying he never did anything illegal and that the charges against him should never have been brought. He also attacked the judge presiding over the case, Justice Juan Merchan, calling him a “Trump-hating judge.”“You want to get President Trump at any cost,” Trump said. “As it turns out ,everyone who has looked at this case…says there is no cri...

Missouri House passes tax credit aimed at luring film, television production to state

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:12:54 GMT

A bill that would incentivize film and television production in Missouri gained final House approval in a 104-50 vote Monday.HB675, sponsored by Rep. Kurtis Gregory, R-Marshall, “authorizes a tax credit equal to 20% of qualifying expenses … associated with the production of a qualified motion media production project.”Additional credits may be awarded if certain conditions are met, such as at least 50% of the production being filmed in Missouri, or at least 15% of the project taking place in a “rural or blighted area” within the state, according to the bill.The total of the tax credits for such productions is limited to $16 million per year.Previous state tax credits for such production expenses expired in 2013.Gregory mentioned several movies set in Missouri that were not filmed in the state, including American Underdog. The biographical film about St. Louis Rams Super Bowl winning quarterback Kurt Warner was filmed primarily in Oklahoma.The widely acclaimed Netflix serie...

Denver City Council election results: Who’s winning and who’s losing in 11 district contests

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:12:54 GMT

Denver voters cast ballots Tuesday in City Council district contests that could help reshape the lawmaking body — though early results showed runoffs appeared likely in four races.All seats were up on the 13-seat council, including 11 positions elected from geographic districts throughout the city. The other two seats are elected at large.RELATED: Full Denver election resultsAt least three new district-based council members were guaranteed after incumbents either opted not to run or were prevented from doing so by term limits. Both at-large members also were term-limited.To avoid a runoff on June 6, the winning candidate in any district must receive an outright majority. This election is the first under a redistricting plan approved last year.Three incumbents ran unopposed for new terms on Tuesday: Jamie Torres, the current council president, in west Denver’s District 3; Paul Kashmann in near-southeast District 6; and Stacie Gilmore in far-northeast District 11. Kashmann...