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Detroit-area officer charged with federal civil rights crime after punching Black man

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:53 GMT

WARREN, Mich. (AP) — A suburban Detroit police officer who punched a young Black man in the face and slammed his head to the ground was charged Monday with a federal civil rights crime.A criminal complaint against Matthew Rodriguez was unsealed in federal court ahead of an afternoon news conference by U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison.Jaquwan Smith, 19, was being processed at the Warren police station on June 13 after he was arrested on a warrant for multiple felonies.Video shows Rodriguez exchanging words with Smith before the officer punched him, knocked him to the floor and slammed his head on the ground.Other Warren officers immediately intervened and reported the incident to managers. Smith had previously been searched for weapons, indicating there was no threat to the officer’s security, a court filing said.“The victim was not in an aggressive stance and his hands were by his side with his thumbs in his pants,” FBI agent Brent Nida said in a court filing.Rodriguez was fired on Jun...

Kansas must stop changing trans people’s sex listing on driver’s licenses, judge says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:53 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas must stop allowing transgender people to change the sex listed on their driver’s licenses, a state-court judge ordered Monday as part of a lawsuit filed by the state’s Republican attorney general.District Judge Teresa Watson’s order will remain in effect for up to two weeks, although she can extend it. But it’s significant because transgender people have been able to change their driver’s licenses in Kansas for at least four years, and almost 400 people have done it. For now, Kansas will be among only a few states that don’t allow any such changes. The judge issued the order three days after Attorney General Kris Kobach sued two officials in Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration. Kelly announced last month that the state’s motor vehicles division would continue changing driver’s licenses for transgender people so that their sex listing matches their gender identities. Kobach contends that a law, which took e...

Europe signs off on a new privacy pact that allows people’s data to keep flowing to US

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:53 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The European Union signed off Monday on a new agreement over the privacy of people’s personal information that gets pinged across the Atlantic, aiming to ease European concerns about electronic spying by American intelligence agencies. The EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework has an adequate level of protection for personal data, the EU’s executive commission said. That means it’s comparable to the 27-nation’s own stringent data protection standards, so companies can use it to move information from Europe to the United States without adding extra security. U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order in October to implement the deal after reaching a preliminary agreement with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Washington and Brussels made an effort to resolve their yearslong battle over the safety of EU citizens’ data that tech companies store in the U.S. after two earlier data transfer agreements were thrown out. “Personal data can n...

Book Review: John McPhee delivers a lovely ‘reminiscence montage’ in ’Tabula Rasa’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:53 GMT

“Tabula Rasa, Volume 1” by John McPhee (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)What do you do when your writing career lasts seven decades but you haven’t said everything you once thought about saying? If you’re John McPhee, you crack open your notebooks and give fans a taste of the stories you never wrote.That’s the premise behind “Tabula Rasa,” which the 92-year-old McPhee wryly indicates is “Volume 1” because “the purpose of (the project) is to keep the old writer alive by never coming to an end.”There are plenty of snippets here that will make readers wish McPhee had indeed delved deeper into particular topics. A longer profile of fellow writer Edward Abbey would have been nice after hearing him recount the stoning of a rabbit at a Princeton colloquium. Or more color from a 1979 Independence Day fireworks party aboard Malcolm Forbes’ yacht in New York’s East River. Some of the best writing in this collection could be considered memoir — from McPhee’s high school job as a billy club- and flas...

Monitor urges contempt proceedings begin against New York City over Rikers jail conditions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:53 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Contempt proceedings should be initiated against New York City over its failure to meet court-ordered reforms meant to stabilize the troubled Rikers Island jail complex, a federal monitor recommended on Monday.The court-appointed monitor made the recommendation in a filing in Manhattan federal court, where a judge is currently considering a federal takeover of the city-run jail system.The report was issued just days after another monitor found the jail complex forced detainees to live in damp, fetid quarters infested with mold, vermin and other “generally unsanitary” conditions.According to the latest report, the city has failed to address key problems at the complex, including the risk of violence to those in custody, despite eight years of monitoring since a consent judgment went into effect and following the first year of an “Action Plan” that was supposed to speed improvements.“Many of the initiatives required by the Action Plan remain incomplete or have not been...

WATCH LIVE | Illinois hits 'tourism milestone'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:53 GMT

ILLINOIS — Governor JB Pritzker is set to announce a "tourism milestone" for the state.Pritzker has scheduled a press conference for Monday afternoon from Chicago's River North neighborhood. During the event he is expected "to announce record Illinois tourism milestone," according to a press release. Northern Lights could be visible in Wisconsin, Indiana, 15 other states Thursday No additional information was provided.WGN plans to livestream the announcement within this story beginning at approximately 11:30 a.m. 

The Amazing Race: Stomach the Challenge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:53 GMT

Put your mental, creative and physical skills to the test, all while supporting genetic cancer research. Register a team today for The Amazing Race: Stomach the Challenge, fundraiser August 5th. For additional details, and to register, visit: https://my.onecause.com/event/organizations/16b96f2e-fc58-4749-81df-4239012d9c16/events/vevt:1ac14e1b-a6dc-4b71-ac28-92b216dadf02/home/story

White Sox scout who signed Luis Robert Jr. discusses outfielder’s trajectory into All-Star performer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:53 GMT

CHICAGO —When the White Sox signed Luis Robert Jr. in 2017 for $26 million dollars, the young outfielder was Major League Baseball’s top-ranked international prospect. Marco Paddy helped the Sox ink Robert, just as he did for the team when they signed Jose Abreu, Oscar Colas, and Yoelqui Cespedes.Paddy is now the Sox Special Assistant to the General Manager in charge of international operations and last year was named international scout of the year.He was in Chicago Saturday to receive the Roland Hemond Award from the Society of American Baseball Research where WGN’s Josh Frydman sat down to discuss Robert's rise to All-Star level and when Paddy remembers first watching him play.

Lakeway police investigate golf course death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:53 GMT

Editor’s Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for July 10, 2023AUSTIN (KXAN) — Lakeway police are investigating what they describe as "an incident involving a deceased person" at a nearby golf course on Monday.The department tweeted about it at 10:30 a.m. and said it happened at the Flintrock Falls Golf Course, which is off Jack Nicklaus Drive. It said portions of the course will be shut down throughout the day.Police added "there is no immediate safety concern to anyone in the community in relation to this incident."

DPS trooper shoots driver after car chase that ended in north Austin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper shot a man in the arm after a car chase that ended in north Austin Monday morning, according to DPS.The department said a trooper tried to pull over a driver headed north on Interstate 35 who they believed had active warrants out for his arrest, but the person didn't stop.KXAN's Dylan McKim reports it appears the chase ended in a parking lot of a business park near I-35 and Rundberg Lane. McKim reported troopers looking at a black Lincoln car that had some damage to the front right tire. Investigators were also walking around a small grassy area by the parking lot. DPS confirmed the address was 8800 North Park Drive and that the driver tried to run away after he stopped.The trooper shot the man in the arm as he ran, DPS said. He was taken to the hospital.A woman was also in the car at the time. She was detained and released, DPS said, adding it did not know if she faced charges. DPS has not identified her, the driver or the...