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Boston gets greener with $11M federal grant for urban forestry, green spaces

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:00:37 GMT

Environmentalists in Boston are rejoicing as the city’s most tree-deprived neighborhoods are set to become a whole lot greener.U.S. Sen. Ed Markey has secured $11 million in the federal funding that will be pumped toward enhancing urban forestry and access to green spaces across Chinatown, East Boston, Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury. The city’s allotment is included in a $22 million pool for the entire Bay State.The funding comes after the city teamed up with Mass Audubon in the spring to spearhead a coalition dedicated to providing resources to residents who have trees growing on their properties but might not be aware of how to properly care for them.Markey celebrated the funding alongside Mayor Michelle Wu and members of the green jobs program, PowerCorpsBOS, at Franklin Park on Friday.The city’s tree canopy and green spaces are unevenly distributed across its neighborhoods, a result of “systemic disinvestment,” the senator said. The funding will address heat and flooding, decr...

Man accused of killing 10 at Colorado supermarket in 2021 is ruled mentally competent to stand trial

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:00:37 GMT

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A judge ruled Friday that the man accused of killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in a 2021 rampage is mentally competent to stand trial. The decision allows the prosecution of Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa to move forward. Judge Ingrid Bakke ruled that Alissa, who has schizophrenia, is able to understand court proceedings and contribute to his own defense.Bakke presided over a hearing last week to consider an August determination by experts at a state mental hospital that Alissa was competent after previous evaluations found otherwise. Alissa’s defense attorney asked for the hearing to debate the finding. In her ruling, Bakke said she was convinced that, following forced medication, Alissa was more communicative and had a “far improved capacity to elucidate his reasoning and decision-making.” That’s a critical component of competency, which partly hinges on Alissa being able to make informed decisions in his own case, such as whether to testify himself.Al...

Three killed in small plane crash near Chilliwack, B.C., airport

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:00:37 GMT

CHILLIWACK, B.C. — Three people have been killed in a small plane crash in Chilliwack, B.C. RCMP say in a statement the plane crashed not far from the airport in Chilliwack, about 100 kilometres east of Vancouver. The Transportation Safety Board says it is sending a team of investigators to the site in the Fraser Valley. Haylie Morris was at work sitting in a forklift when she saw the plane pass right in front of her and says she knew it was flying much too low. She says the plane slammed down right beside the Chilliwack Motor Inn. The plane’s registration number seen in photos from the crash site show that the Piper PA34 belongs to SkyQuest Aviation, a flight school based in nearby Langley, B.C.This report from The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2023. The Canadian Press

Neck hold used on Elijah McClain emerges as focal point in officers’ trial over his 2019 death

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:00:37 GMT

BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — A neck hold that Denver-area police used on Elijah McClain prior to the Black man’s 2019 death lasted only seconds but has emerged as a focal point in the first criminal trial against officers and paramedics charged in his death.Defense attorneys for the first two officers to go on trial closed their case Friday without calling any witnesses. Rather, they sought to use the prosecution’s own witnesses and video that’s been shown repeatedly to jurors to make their case that Aurora officers Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt’s actions weren’t to blame in McClain’s death.The district attorney initially did not to pursue criminal charges, but the case was re-examined in 2020, resulting in a criminal indictment and becoming a rallying cry for protests against police brutality against Black people following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.Prosecutors spent two weeks painting a picture of excessive force by officers who u...

Woman who was returned from Syria prison camp faces terrorism charge

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:00:37 GMT

TORONTO — A 29-year-old woman who was among a group of women and children returned to Canada in April after years in a Syrian prison camp has been charged with a terrorism-related offence.RCMP say the charge was laid following an investigation by the force’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team.Four Canadian women and 10 children landed in Montreal in April after being held for years at the al-Roj camp, with three of the women arrested upon arrival and released on conditions.Police say Ammara Amjad was arrested in Milton, Ont., on Thursday for allegedly participating in activities of the Islamic State group.Amjad appeared in Brampton provincial court for a bail hearing and has been released subject to conditions.Her next court date is set for Nov. 17.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2023.The Canadian Press

Federal judge in Oklahoma clears the way for a ban on medical care for transgender young people

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:00:37 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A federal judge in Tulsa declined to stop a new law from taking effect that makes it a felony crime for health care workers in Oklahoma to provide gender-affirming medical care to young transgender people.U.S. District Court Judge John Heil III issued his order late Thursday denying a motion for a preliminary injunction sought by the plaintiffs, who include a medical provider and family members of transgender children in Oklahoma. Heil wrote that the plaintiffs had not demonstrated that parents have a fundamental right to choose such medical care for their children.“This an area in which medical and policy debate is unfolding and the Oklahoma Legislature can rationally take the side of caution before permitting irreversible medical treatments of its children,” Heil wrote.The new law, which bans medical treatments like puberty-blocking drugs or hormones for those younger than 18, was passed by Oklahoma’s Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Gov. ...

No charges in deadly 2019 Hard Rock hotel building collapse in New Orleans, grand jury rules

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:00:37 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A grand jury in Louisiana has decided against indicting anyone in the deadly collapse four years ago of a Hard Rock Hotel that was under construction in New Orleans.The panel, which heard evidence in the case over several months, met once more on Thursday. It was the last chance to file criminal charges before a four-year window closed to pursue gross negligence charges under state law.Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams decided to have the panel hear testimony and vote on potential charges, rather than directly filing them, and it returned a “no true bill” verdict, meaning at least nine jurors did not find sufficient evidence to establish criminal liability. Williams said in a statement that the grand jury did not hear enough evidence to meet the threshold for a criminal case.“Unfortunately, criminal negligence carries a much higher burden than civil negligence, and upon deliberating, the jurors decided there simply wasn’t enough certainty to proceed,...

YNW Melly murder trial delayed after defense attorneys accuse prosecutors of withholding information

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:00:37 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Defense attorneys for rapper YNW Melly say South Florida prosecutors committed felony obstruction of justice by not revealing that the lead detective in the rapper’s double-murder case had been previously accused of being willing to lie as he gathered evidence.Attorneys for Melly, whose legal name is Jamell Demons, on Friday asked Broward Circuit Judge John J. Murphy to remove the Broward State Attorney’s Office from the case and potentially dismiss it entirely, the Sun Sentinel reported. Jury selection in the retrial of the 24-year-old rapper was set to start next week, but the judge pushed it back a week on Friday and set hearings for next week to deal with the obstruction allegations.The request from the defense attorneys comes after Assistant State Attorney Michelle Boutros, who works for the Broward office, testified Friday that she overheard Miramar Police Detective Mark Moretti, lead investigator in the case against Demons, ask a Broward County de...

Chicago-area man charged in connection to Juneteenth party shooting where 1 died and 22 were hurt

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:00:37 GMT

WILLOWBROOK, Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago man has been charged in connection with a June shooting where one person died and 22 others were injured, authorities said Friday.The 19-year-old Aurora man is charged with one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm and one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said.The man was denied pretrial release during a court appearance Friday, Berlin said.AP isn’t naming him until we have reached him, his lawyer or other representative for comment.The shooting occurred June 18 at a strip mall parking lot in Willowbrook where hundreds of people had gathered to celebrate Juneteenth, authorities said.The man charged was with a group of individuals standing outside a beauty supply store when he began shooting a .45-caliber handgun in the direction of other people at the celebration, Berlin said. After the shooting, the man fled the scene, the prosecutor said. DuPage County sheriff’s deputies took...

Mississippi Democrat Brandon Presley aims to rally Black voters in governor’s race

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:00:37 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi’s gubernatorial election could hinge on turnout among Black voters, who haven’t wielded political influence commensurate to their share of the state population, the Democratic nominee said Friday.At a campaign event in the 80% Black state capital of Jackson just over one month before Election Day, Brandon Presley said Black voters could help carry him to victory. He also accused incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who is seeking reelection, of hoping they stay home. “Black Mississippi and white Mississippi have been purposefully, strategically and with intent divided over racial lines. Intentionally divided for two things: Money and power,” Presley said. “Tate Reeves and that sleazy little crowd he runs around with are sitting over there today hoping that Black voters do not come vote in November.” Speaking to a crowd at a blues club in Jackson’s Farish Street Historic District, Presley said the interests of Mississippi’s ...