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Civilians fleeing northern Gaza’s combat zone report a terrifying journey on foot past Israeli tanks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:22 GMT

BUREIJ REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip (AP) — What was once Gaza’s busiest thoroughfare has become a terrifying escape route for Palestinian civilians fleeing combat on foot or on donkey carts. On their way south, those running for their lives said they raised their hands and waved white flags to move past Israeli tanks along the four-lane highway. Some reported Israeli soldiers firing at them and said they passed bodies strewn alongside the road.Many escaped with just the clothes on their back. One woman, covered head-to-toe in a black veil and robe, cradled a toddler and clutched a black purse. A man walked alongside a covered donkey cart that transported his family. It was piled high with mattresses.In the north of the Gaza Strip, Israeli ground forces backed by relentless airstrikes have encircled Gaza City, the base of Hamas ‘ power, since the weekend. They cut the strip in half and sought to drive Palestinians from northern Gaza as troops advanced. From early on in the war, now...

Uvalde mother whose daughter was killed in 2022 school shooting on the ballot for mayoral election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:22 GMT

UVALDE, Texas (AP) — A Uvalde mother who has pushed for tougher gun laws after her daughter was among the 19 children killed in the Robb Elementary School attack is on the ballot Tuesday in a bid to become mayor of the South Texas town, which was left divided by one of America’s deadliest mass shootings. Kimberly Mata-Rubio, 34, would become Uvalde’s first female mayor and has talked about charting a new direction for the town of 15,000 residents, where differences persist over how to move forward from the tragedy. That includes continued calls for accountability over the hesitant response by police, who did not confront the teenage gunman for more than an hour. Running against Mata-Rubio are Cody Smith, a former Uvalde mayor who left office in 2012, and Veronica Martinez, a local elementary school teacher. This is the first mayoral election in Uvalde since the May 24, 2022, shooting. The gunman carried out the attack in a fourth-grade classroom with an AR-style rifle, a weapon Mata...

Voters are deciding whether to make Ohio the 24th state to legalize recreational marijuana

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:22 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The future of recreational marijuana legalization in Ohio is in the balance Tuesday.Issue 2 on the statewide ballot would allow adults 21 and over to buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and to grow plants at home. A 10% tax would be imposed on purchases, with proceeds going to administrative costs, addiction treatment, municipalities with dispensaries, and social equity and jobs programs. Ohio would become the 24th state to allow adult use cannabis for fun if the measure passes.The conclusion of the vote follows a nearly two-year push by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which surmounted administrative, legal and legislative hurdles to put the citizen-initiated statute before voters.In accordance with Ohio law, the proposal went first to the Republican-dominated Legislature, which was given four months to pass it. With many majority lawmakers opposed, they refused.GOP Senate President Matt Huffman stood firm against the proposal and has...

Republicans are vying to control New Jersey’s Legislature for the first time in over 2 decades

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:22 GMT

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey wraps up voting Tuesday for a new Legislature, with all 120 seats on the ballot, as Republicans fight for controlling either chamber for the first time in more than two decades. The GOP has refrained from declaring its members would recapture control of either chamber, which they haven’t held since 2001. But they sounded optimistic after picking up seven legislative seats in 2021, when Gov. Phil Murphy won reelection by a slimmer margin than polls had projected.At stake is control of the 80-member Assembly and 40-seat Senate, with Democrats currently dominating both chambers, as well as holding the governorship. Candidates in this year’s contested races each ran on their own issues. But overall, Democrats focused on a number of property tax rebates they delivered over the last two years as well as pledging to defend abortion rights. Republicans campaigned in part on ending Democrats’ more than two decades of control and leaned heavily on w...

Virginia’s capital city voting again on whether to allow a casino

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:22 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Voters in Virginia’s capital city are deciding Tuesday whether developers can move forward with a proposed $562 million resort casino along Interstate 95. A ballot measure on whether to allow the gambling and entertainment complex is before Richmond voters for a second time, after the city narrowly rejected the proposal two years ago. The developers returned with a retooled proposal and invested around $10 million into a pro-casino campaign aimed at building support for the project, which has the backing of Mayor Levar Stoney and major area business groups. The proposal also faced a lesser-funded but organized opposition effort. Many of the anti-casino signs that dotted the city in recent weeks have emphasized the fact that the city already said “no” once before. The project — this time branded the Richmond Grand Resort and Casino — would be located on the same former tobacco company site just off I-95 in south Richmond that was identified in the first pro...

Exonerated ‘Central Park Five’ member set to win council seat as New York votes in local elections

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:22 GMT

Exonerated “Central Park Five” member Yusef Salaam is poised to win a seat Tuesday on the New York City Council, marking a stunning reversal of fortune for a political newcomer who was wrongly imprisoned as a teenager in the infamous rape case.Salaam, a Democrat, will represent a central Harlem district on the City Council, having run unopposed for the seat in one of many local elections playing out across New York state on Tuesday. He won his primary election in a landslide.The victory will come more than two decades after DNA evidence was used to overturn the convictions of Salaam and four other Black and Latino men in the 1989 rape and beating of a white jogger in Central Park. Salaam was imprisoned for almost seven years.“For me, this means that we can really be become our ancestors’ wildest dreams,” Salaam said in an interview before the election. Elsewhere in New York City, voters will decide whether to reelect the Queens district attorney and cast ballots in other City Counci...

Three MoDOT contract workers struck on I-270

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:22 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY -- According to Ferguson Police Chief Doyle, three MoDOT contract workers were struck on New Halls Ferry Road underneath the I-270 overpass while working. The suspect's vehicle is still on scene. The driver ran away from the area.The Missouri Highway State Patrol, St. Louis County Police Department and Ferguson Police are canvassing the area for the suspect.The workers were taken to a hospital for treatment. The extent of their injuries is not clear at this time.

No. 23 Saint Mary’s beats Division II Stanislaus State 107-28 in season opener

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:22 GMT

MORAGA, Calif. (AP) — Aidan Mahaney scored 15 points and No. 23 Saint Mary’s rolled to a season-opening 107-28 victory over Division II Stanislaus State on Monday night.The Gaels (1-0) come into this season with high hopes after making it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history.Saint Mary’s was ranked in the preseason for the fourth time ever thanks to the return of key starters Mahaney, Alex Ducas and Mitchell Saxen.Mason Forbes scored 19 points to lead Saint Mary’s and Rory Hawke added 13.The opener against Stanislaus State hardly provided a test for the Gaels, who were in complete control the whole way.Saint Mary’s outscored Stanislaus State 42-4 over the final 15:31 of the first half, holding the Warriors to 1-for-24 shooting from the floor to take a 50-11 halftime lead.John Wade III scored seven points to lead Stanislaus State. This game was the second exhibition against a Division I team for the ...

Bronny James in attendance for USC opener in Las Vegas, and LeBron James hopes for a comeback

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:22 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — USC freshman Bronny James took the court at T-Mobile Arena donning grey sweats while his teammates warmed up for their opener against Kansas State on Monday night.And as his team played, his father — NBA all-time leading scorer LeBron James — revealed what the family hopes is a path to Bronny being back on the floor.“Things are going in the right direction with Bronny’s progress,” LeBron James said Monday night in Miami, after he and the Los Angeles Lakers played the Heat. “He’s done with rehab. Every week, he gets to do more and more and more. We have a big — a big — moment at the end of the month to see how we can continue to go forward.“If he’s cleared, we’ll be not too long away from him being back on the floor and back with his teammates and practicing with the notion of being back on the floor and playing in game situations,” LeBron James added. “Everything’s on the up and up.”Bronny James is still on his way back from suffering a cardiac arrest during a summe...

Calle Jarnkrok scores in OT to give Maple Leafs 6-5 victory over Lightning

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:22 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — Calle Jarnkrok scored his second goal of the game 46 seconds into overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 6-5 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.Auston Matthews added two goals and an assist, Mitch Marner had a goal and three assists and Matthew Knies had a goal and two assists. Toronto dug out of an early 4-1 hole to improve to 5-4-2 and end an 0-2-2 slide.“We don’t have any quit in this locker room,” Marner said. “A lot of trust in our group that, regardless of the situation, we’re never out of a game.” Jarnkrok scored his third goal of the season in the extra period after taking a pass from Morgan Rielly and redirecting the puck past Jonas Johansson.“There are a lot of things that haven’t gone good for us in the season,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “But we’ve responded in those moments a lot and kept going. Really proud of the way the guys stepped up.”Toronto starter Ilya Samsonov allowed four goals on 12 shots in just over 15 minutes of ...