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Man cleared in hunters’ killings after 21 years in prison seeks $1M from Michigan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:59 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — A man who spent nearly 21 years in prison for the deaths of two Michigan hunters filed a lawsuit Friday seeking $1.02 million for wrongful convictions, just a day after a prosecutor dropped murder charges and ruled out a second trial.“Jeff Titus is 71 years old. He was robbed of 21 years of his prime,” attorney Wolf Mueller said. “Who knows how long he will live? He doesn’t have a day to waste.”Titus’ convictions were thrown out in February based on newly discovered evidence, Mueller said, a key threshold to get compensation from the state.Titus has long declared his innocence in the fatal shootings of Doug Estes and Jim Bennett near his Kalamazoo County land in 1990.He was released from prison — and a life sentence — earlier this year when authorities acknowledged that Titus’ trial lawyer in 2002 was never given a police file with details about another suspect. Thomas Dillon was an Ohio serial killer whose five victims between 1989 and 1992 were hun...

Alabama governor signs legislation naming Yellowhammer Cookie as official state cookie

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:59 GMT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama now has an official state cookie: The Yellowhammer Cookie.Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday signed legislation naming the confection created by a Montgomery fourth-grader as the official state cookie. Students at Montgomery’s Trinity Presbyterian School came up with the idea of a state cookie. Fourth-grader Mary Claire Cook submitted the winning recipe, which includes pecans, peanut butter and honey, WSFA-TV reported.Cook brought a batch of the cookies to Ivey for the bill-signing ceremony. Alabama has a long list of official state emblems and symbols, including a state vegetable, nut, amphibian and spirit. The Associated Press

Body-cam footage shows Peel officers saving person in crisis from edge of building

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:59 GMT

Warning: Video contains sensitive content. If you are in Canada and need help or know someone contemplating suicide, call 1-833-456-4566 any time or text 45645 between 4 p.m. and midnight ET.Peel Regional Police is honouring three of its constables after body-camera footage showed the officers helping a person in crisis contemplating ending their life.Peel Regional Police shared the video on Twitter of its officers at a building in Mississauga responding to a domestic dispute call.In the video, the caption explained that the person in crisis texted a photo to the individual that phoned the police showing them on the edge of the building. The footage shows officers climbing ladders in an attempt to reach the person.“The officers climbed 57 flights of stairs and through various obstacles to reach the roof,” the video’s caption reads.The body-cam footage then shows the person in crisis standing at the edge of the tall building’s roof as officers attempt to assis...

El Salvador soccer executives dodge prison with payment to stampede victims’ families

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:59 GMT

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Five soccer club executives and stadium officials arrested for their alleged roles in the stampede at an El Salvador league game that left nine fans dead and dozens injured will avoid prison by making payments to the injured and relatives of the dead.A court on Friday ended the criminal process against three executives from the Alianza soccer club and two high-level officials from the Cuscatlan stadium where the May 20 quarterfinals match between clubs Alianza and Fas was played.Play was suspended about 16 minutes into the match, when fans in the stands waving frantically got the attention of those on the field. People carried the injured out of a tunnel and down to the pitch. Local television transmitted live images of the aftermath of the stampede by Alianza fans. Dozens made it onto the field where they received medical treatment. Miguel Anaya, one of the defense attorneys, told reporters that families of the victims will receive $5,000 to $10,000...

Brazil’s prosecutors block zipline construction at Rio’s touristic Sugarloaf Mountain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:59 GMT

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s federal prosecutors blocked a decision to authorize the installment of ziplines at Rio de Janeiro’s world-famous Sugarloaf Mountain, claiming they will damage the environment around one of the United Nations world’s heritage sites.Prosecutors announced the decision late Thursday, arguing that Iphan, a federal organ under the Ministry of Culture, “illicitly” authorized the project after construction had already begun in September 2022.Now, both Iphan and the company responsible for the construction of the ziplines are defendants in a civil lawsuit and each must pay a fine of at least US$9.5 million (50 million reais). Prosecutors gave the company a 60-day deadline to present a schedule to work on repairing a damaged area and to remove every structure and residuals used at the construction site.Sugarloaf — known in Portuguese as Pao de Açucar — juts out of the earth at the entrance to Rio’s bay. The United Nations heritage center named it a...

Connecticut lawmakers vote to allow people to use deadly force as the bear population grows

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:59 GMT

Connecticut lawmakers voted Friday to take steps to protect people from the state’s growing bear population. But they stopped far short of a bear hunt and restrictions on people unintentionally feeding the hungry animals.The legislation, which cleared the House of Representatives on a 115-32 vote after being revamped by the Senate, instead explicitly allows someone to use deadly force to kill a bear in Connecticut if they reasonably believe it’s inflicting or about to inflict great bodily harm to a person, a pet or is entering an occupied building.“This is just taking away second-guessing to defend what we love,” said Republican Rep. Patrick Callahan, whose northwestern Connecticut district has seen a lot of bear activity in recent years. The bill, which now moves to Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont’s desk, has been one of the most emotional issues of this year’s legislative session. It has pitted legislators who want to protect the animals against those whose cons...

3 women who say Cuba Gooding Jr. sexually abused them can testify at sex assault trial, judge rules

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Three women who claim Cuba Gooding Jr. sexually abused them — including one upset she never got her day in court when Gooding resolved criminal charges without trial or jail — can testify at a federal civil trial next week to support a woman’s claim that the actor raped her in 2013, a judge ruled Friday.Judge Paul A. Crotty said the allegations by the women were relevant for a jury deciding if the Oscar-winning “Jerry Maguire” star raped a woman in a Manhattan hotel room after they met at a bar. He also ruled in a separate order that the plaintiff, identified only as Jane Doe in the lawsuit seeking $6 million in damages, must reveal her name at trial.He said the claims by the three women who can testify “are sufficiently similar” to the claims at stake in the trial because “all involve sudden sexual assaults or attempted sexual assaults” connected to Gooding and stemmed from the presence of the women and Gooding in social settings such as festivals, bars, nightclubs ...

Black men were likely underdiagnosed with lung problems because of bias in software, study suggests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Racial bias built into a common medical test for lung function is likely leading to fewer Black patients getting care for breathing problems, a study published Thursday suggests.As many as 40% more Black male patients in the study might have been diagnosed with breathing problems if current diagnosis-assisting computer software was changed, the study said.Doctors have long discussed the potential problems caused by race-based assumptions that are built into diagnostic software. This study, published in JAMA Network Open, offers one of the first real-world examples of how the the issue may affect diagnosis and care for lung patients, said Dr. Darshali Vyas, a pulmonary care doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital.The results are “exciting” to see published but it’s also “what we’d expect” from setting aside race-based calculations, said Vyas, who was an author of an influential 2020 New England Journal of Medicine article that catalogued examples of how race-based as...

Bicyclist killed in hit-and-run in Highland Park, mayor says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:59 GMT

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — A hit-and-run Friday afternoon in Highland Park claimed the life of a female bicyclist, the city's mayor confirmed. Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said on Twitter that the crash occurred just before 12:40 p.m. at the intersection of Deerfield and Piccadilly roads.The bicyclist suffered severe injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was later pronounced dead. There is no description of the fleeing vehicle at this time. Rotering said Deerfield Road between Carriage Way and Lilac Lane is closed due to an ongoing crash investigation.Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact the Highland Park Police Department at (847) 432.7730 or by email at [email protected] is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Churchill Downs suspending races after 12 horses die

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:59 GMT

HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) — In the wake of 12 horse deaths at Churchill Downs, the race track best known for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby, says it will suspend racing as a precaution.Churchill Downs Inc., which owns the Louisville-based track, says remaining meets will be moved to Ellis Park Racing and Gaming, located in Henderson, Kentucky. CDI says transitioning Spring Meet races will begin June 7. PETA: Stop playing ‘Russian roulette’ with horses’ lives Since the "unusual" number of horse deaths at the race track, Churchill conducted an inspection and jointly announced new safety measures with the Horseracing Integrity & Safety Authority. “What has happened at our track is deeply upsetting and absolutely unacceptable," CDI CEO Bill Carstanjen said in a statement. "Despite our best efforts to identify a cause for the recent horse injuries, and though no issues have been linked to our racing surfaces or environment at Churchill Downs, we need to take more time to conduct a ...