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Judge orders Louisiana to remove incarcerated youths from the state’s maximum-security adult prison

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:53 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ordered that incarcerated youths be removed from a temporary lockup at a former death row building in Louisiana’s adult maximum-security prison by Sept. 15 after critics argued the youths are kept in unsafe conditions and don’t receive adequate schooling or mental health services. Juvenile detainees and their advocates allege that youths have been held in harmful conditions at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, suffering through dangerous heat waves, extended confinement to their cells, foul water and inadequate schooling. Proponents have argued that the space is needed to house “high-risk” aggressive youths, many of whom have been involved in violent incidents at other detention facilities, and that locking them up at the adult prison keeps the community safe.Attorneys said U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick, who ruled from the bench in a Friday morning hearing, found that conditions at Angola were unconstitutional and t...

New murder charges brought against the man accused of killing UVA football players

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:53 GMT

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Authorities have upgraded murder charges against the man accused of fatally shooting three University of Virginia football players last year.A special grand jury in Charlottesville issued the new aggravated murder indictments against Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. If convicted, the 23-year-old would serve a mandatory life sentence. They are the most serious murder charges available in Virginia after it abolished the death penalty in 2021.Jones was a UVA student in November 2022 and a former member of the football team when police say he opened fire on a charter bus that had brought back students from a field trip.Football players Lavel Davis Jr., D’Sean Perry and Devin Chandler were killed, while a fourth member of the team, Mike Hollins, and another student were wounded.Jones had initially been charged with second-degree murder after his arrest.Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney James Hingeley said in a news release that the new indictments were ret...

Nickelback entertains the haters in new documentary on Alberta rockers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:53 GMT

Nickelback has tasted the hater-ade from the band’s zealous detractors — and is raising a toast to them.A new documentary called “Hate to Love: Nickelback” premieres today at the Toronto International Film Festival. The rockers from Hanna, Alta. have signed off on the film that, in part, grapples with their complicated legacy.On one hand, they’ve delivered numerous top-selling albums over their three-decade career, and on the other, they’re often called one of the most-hated rock acts of all time.It’s a history that bassist Mike Kroeger — brother of frontman Chad Kroeger — says was impossible to ignore as they considered how to tell the story about their formation and worldwide success.And so the band decided to tackle their reputation head-on by acknowledging the hate in the documentary’s title while dedicating a small part of the film to dissecting how they landed such paradoxical popularity.“Hate to Love: Nickelback,” from roc...

A UN envoy has made his first visit to Western Sahara. He pledged to advance the political process

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:53 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations doubled down on its pledge to revive stalled negotiations over the disputed Western Sahara during a visit to the region this week in which its top negotiator met with officials on all sides before the release of a highly anticipated U.N. report next month.The visit was Staffan de Mistura’s first to the Western Sahara since he was appointed in 2021 to oversee U.N. efforts to guide negotiations that date back more than three decades.Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony in 1975, sparking a conflict with the pro-independence Polisario Front. The region is believed to have considerable offshore oil deposits and mineral resources and is slightly larger than the United Kingdom.The U.N. brokered a 1991 cease-fire and established a peacekeeping mission to monitor the truce and help prepare a referendum on the territory’s future. Disagreements over who is eligible to vote have prevented the referendum from taking place. The Polisario...

Lawsuit blames Peloton for death of NYC man whose bike fell on his neck during workout

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:53 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman has filed a lawsuit against Peloton over the death of her son, who was killed when his exercise bike fell on his neck during a workout in his New York City apartment.Ryan Furtado, 32, was doing a workout in his Brooklyn apartment that involved getting off his Peloton bike to do floor exercises and then getting back on it when the accident occurred on Jan. 13, 2022, according to the lawsuit filed March 10 in New York state court.Furtado grabbed the bike to hoist himself up, but it “spun around and impacted him on the face and neck,” according to the lawsuit filed by his mother, Johanna Furtado. The impact severed Furtado’s carotid artery, killing him instantly, according to the lawsuit, which alleges that the equipment was sold “in a defective and unreasonably dangerous condition.”Johanna Furtado, who is seeking unspecified damages, accuses Peloton of negligence for selling the bike “in a defective and unreasonably dangerous condition” and fa...

Former Philadelphia police officer charged with murder after shooting Black man

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:53 GMT

(The Hill) -- The Philadelphia District Attorney charged a former city police officer with murder on Friday over the shooting of a Black man during a traffic stop last month.Then-officer Mark Dial, who is white, shot and killed Eddie Irizarry, who is Black, while he sat in his vehicle after police stopped his car over alleged erratic driving last month, video showed.District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) released the graphic unedited body camera footage of the shooting Friday, which appears to show Dial exiting his police cruiser, approaching Irizarry’s driver’s side window and firing six shots just seconds after approaching the car.Dial and a second police officer then appear to remove Irizarry from his vehicle by his hands and feet and place him in a police cruiser to be transported to a hospital. He was declared dead at an area hospital minutes later.There was “no question” that the district attorney’s office should bring charges, Krasner said at a press conference, adding if the sh...

Private texts, whistleblower memes revealed in Paxton impeachment trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:53 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- Whistleblower Ryan Vassar resumed testimony in Ken Paxton's impeachment trial Friday morning, recounting the events surrounding his decision to report Paxton to the FBI for alleged ethical and legal violations.Friday morning began with tense cross-examination from Paxton's defense team.Thursday afternoon, Vassar teared up at Paxton's suggestion that he and the whistleblowers were "rogue employees." That assertion was "contrary to the years that I dedicated my life to the state," he said. Defense attorneys on Friday appeared to attempt to discredit those solemn emotions, referencing text messages Vassar sent in a private group chat of whistleblowers.Paxton defense attorney J. Mitchell Little displayed numerous text messages showing Vassar and other former employees demeaning other colleagues, insulting their intelligence and making light of their difficult experience following the FBI complaint.One text from Vassar included an image of "Going Rouge: The Sarah Pali...

Bastrop officials cancel missing person alert for 79-year-old

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:53 GMT

BASTROP COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) -- A missing person's alert was canceled Friday afternoon after being issued by the Bastrop County Sheriff's Office earlier in the day. The sheriff's office initially asked the public for help locating a 79-year-old man Friday morning at 10:41 but canceled the alert just before 1:30 p.m.

Tommies excited to step up in competition vs. South Dakota

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:53 GMT

The St. Thomas football team has accomplished some impressive things in its first two seasons at the Division I level, including going unbeaten in the Pioneer Football League last season while managing to extend its home winning streak to 27 games.While they have had limited opportunity, one thing that eluded the Tommies so far is securing a victory against a Division I team that offers athletic scholarships. The Pioneer and the Ivy League are the only two conferences in Division I that don’t offer athletic scholarships, a distinction that has some viewing them as being Division I with an asterisk.The Tommies get their third crack at changing that perception this weekend when they face South Dakota of the Missouri Valley Conference in Vermillion. S.D. In its inaugural Division I season, St. Thomas fell on the road at Northern Iowa of the Missouri Valley, 44-3. Last season, the Tommies lost at Southern Utah of the Western Athletic Conference, 44-13.While St. Thomas head coach Glenn C...

"Women Aren't Funny" comedy series features Buttonista

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:53 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — News10's Stephanie Rivas sat down with comedian Erin Harkes, the creator of the "Women Aren't Funny" series, and Taylor Rao. Rao is known best as the "Buttonista" and Co-Founder of media company Two Buttons Deep. Rao joined Harkes at the stand-up microphone for the first on September 6 at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs. Harkes will continue to feature an all-female cast of comedians in the ongoing "Women Aren't Funny Series."