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TikTok ban pushed by Missouri’s Hawley blocked in Senate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:40 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley tried to force a Senate vote Wednesday on legislation that would ban TikTok from operating in the United States, but he was blocked by a fellow Republican as lawmakers in both chambers are still trying to figure out what action, if any, is appropriate against the social media app.In trying to force a vote — a move that rarely works in the Senate, since one senator’s objection can block it — Hawley called TikTok “digital fentanyl” and argued it could give the Chinese government access to data from 150 million American users. His bill would block and prohibit U.S. transactions with TikTok’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., within 30 days.The bill “sends the message to Communist China that you cannot buy us,” Hawley said. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky objected to Hawley’s motion, arguing that trying to ban an app would violate the Constitution and anger the millions of voters who use it. “Speech is protected whether you l...

Suit tossed in active shooter drill woman believed was real

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:40 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by an employee of Catholic Charities of Omaha who said she suffered physical and emotional injuries during an active shooter drill involving actors smeared in fake blood and a man firing blanks from a semiautomatic handgun.Douglas County District Court Judge Timothy Burns ruled that Workers’ Compensation Court should decide Sandra Lopez’s claims against Catholic Charities over the drill last year at the organization’s headquarters, the Omaha World-Herald reported Wednesday.Lopez said in the lawsuit that administrators did not warn employees that a drill was planned on May 19, 2022. One administrator who knew it was staged told her, “It is a shooting” as they ran out of the building together, according to the lawsuit. Lopez said she hurt her back while fleeing and also has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.Catholic Charities sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, contending it should be decided...

Jury awards nearly $5M verdict in Chicago police chase crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:40 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — A Cook County jury awarded nearly $5 million Wednesday to the family of an 84-year-old retired teacher who was killed when a police cruiser crashed into a police van and careened into a car in which she was a passenger.The jury awarded $4.75 million to the estate of Verona Gunn and $180,000 to be divided among three other people in the car with her when the collision happened, for their physical injuries and emotional suffering, the plaintiffs’ attorneys said in a statement.The verdict is one of the highest in the state of Illinois for the death of someone in their eighties, it added.“Today, this jury honored their oath and made the City of Chicago accountable for the tragic and untimely death of Mrs. Verona Gunn,” plaintiff’s attorney Andrew Stroth said.Gunn was being driven home after a family cookout when the crash occurred on May 25, 2019, and she died hours later on an operating table.Her daughter, a family friend in the passenger seat and the friend’s 9-ye...

North Dakota aims at school curriculum to deter abortions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:40 GMT

North Dakota schools would be required to show students high-quality video of how a human fetus develops in each week of pregnancy under a bill Senate lawmakers approved during a vote Wednesday. The 37-9 vote comes on the heels of the North Dakota Supreme Court’s ruling this month that a state abortion ban will remain blocked while a lawsuit over its constitutionality proceeds.“If young people see the beauty of these beginnings, then hopefully they’ll think twice before running to the abortion clinic,” Sen. Janne Myrdal, a Republican of Edinburg who helped introduce the bill, said in an interview with The Associated Press.The bill would mandate schools to show middle and high school students a high-definition ultrasound video, at least three minutes long, on the development of the brain, heart and other vital organs in early fetal development — along with a high-quality animation of the fertilization and human development process inside the uterus, “noting significant ma...

Angry migrants head toward border crossing after deadly fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:40 GMT

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — The death toll from a fire inside a migrant detention center rose to 39 Wednesday as hundreds of migrants began walking toward a U.S. border crossing in the belief that American authorities would let them through.The situation in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez was a mix of emotions. There was anger over the deaths of migrants trapped in their cells during a smoky fire that sent guards fleeing, and there was a tearful wait for information on the condition of the nearly 30 injured in the blaze.Santiago de la Peña, the Chihuahua state interior secretary, increased the death count to 39. Added to that was the pent-up frustration of migrants who have spent weeks trying to make appointments on a U.S. cellphone app to file asylum claims. Hundreds of migrants joined in the procession toward a border gate leading into El Paso, Texas, as rumors spread that they might be let through.Jorman Colón, a 30-year-old Venezuelan migrant, walked hand-in-hand with ...

Melissa Joan Hart says she helped ‘tiny kids’ flee shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:40 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Actor Melissa Joan Hart said she and her husband helped a class of kindergartners that was fleeing the Nashville school shooting earlier this week. Hart said in a video posted on Instagram Tuesday that her children attend a school next to the private Christian Covenant School. She said she and her husband had been headed to her kids’ school conferences Monday when they helped some students get away from the shooting that killed six people.“We helped a class of kindergartners across a busy highway,” she said, her voice breaking, “that were climbing out of the woods — that were trying to, um, escape the shooter situation at their school. So we helped all these tiny little kids cross the road and get their teachers over there, and we helped a mom reunite with her children.”Hart said she had moved to Nashville from Connecticut and that her kids had attended a school near Sandy Hook Elementary when 26 children were shot and killed there in 2012.“...

Man seriously injured in York University stabbing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:40 GMT

A man has suffered serious injuries after being stabbed on the grounds of York University.Police say they were called to the university, located at 4700 Keele Street, for reports a large group of people were fighting on campus grounds. When they arrived they found one man suffering from stab wounds. He was taken by paramedics to a nearby hospital in serious condition.Police say the suspects fled the scene and have not provided a description at this time.

Fans toast to 'The Mayor of Rush Street' on 25th anniversary of Harry Caray's death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:40 GMT

CHICAGO — Although he's been gone since 1998, Harry Caray's legacy for the Chicago Cubs isn't easily forgotten.Baseball fans gathered at Caray's restaurant on Navy Pier for an annual celebration of his life after Caray passed away on this date 25 years ago, and with it being the 25th anniversary of his death, fans decided to make a special tribute to Caray, influenced by Chicago's mayoral election. What to know about Cubs’ 2023 Opening Day at Wrigley Field "In 1980, Mayor [Jane] Byrne was the mayor and she said, 'okay Harry, you're the mayor of Rush Street and I'm the mayor of this city," said Grant DePorter, CEO of Harry Caray's Restaurant Group.So, an election party was held at Caray's restaurant Wednesday where fans toasted 'The Mayor of Rush Street.'"We ended up getting 150 countries around the world toasting Harry," DePorter said. "We set a Guinness World Record, we've had five million people toast [Caray]." White Sox give a positive update on Liam Hendriks Among the crowd ...

Elk Grove Village bans sale of unregulated THC products at some stores

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:40 GMT

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. — Elk Grove Village has voted to ban the sale of unregulated THC products at some stores.THC is the chemical in marijuana that gets users "high."The ban is believed to be the first of its kind in Illinois. Can I bring weed purchased in Illinois to other states? More than 30 smoke shops are affected and some say they feel this action is unfair after one business, in particular, was busted for selling to kids. But the mayor said he thought it was necessary to move forward with the ban.At House of Smoke, vape cartridges and gummy bears containing Delta 8 and THC derived from the hemp plant will soon be banned.The village board voted unanimously Tuesday night to outlaw smoke and tobacco shops from selling any THC products. "Young people are getting this because it's easy access, the oversight is not there and it's not right," Mayor Craig Johnson said. Can you bring marijuana on a plane through a TSA checkpoint? Johnson said the action comes after a nine-month...

Twitter removes tweets about 'Trans Day of Vengeance'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:40 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter says it has removed thousands of tweets showing a poster promoting a “trans day of vengeance” protest in support of transgender rights in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.Ella Irwin, Twitter’s head of Trust and Safety, said in a tweet Wednesday that the company automatically removed more than 5,000 tweets and retweets of a poster promoting the event.“We do not support tweets that incite violence irrespective of who posts them. “Vengeance” does not imply peaceful protest. Organizing or support for peaceful protests is ok,” Irwin wrote in the tweet.In removing the tweets, Twitter said it used automated processes to do it quickly at a large scale, without considering what context the tweets were shared in. Because of this, both tweets that were critical of and those that supported the protests were removed. WATCH: Lawmakers get in shouting match outside House floor over gun control This appeared to anger many conservative Twitter users who said the...