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Reform-minded prosecutors in northern Virginia win reelection nominations in Democratic primaries

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:01:39 GMT

LEESBURG, Va. (AP) — Three incumbent prosecutors in northern Virginia who faced tough challenges after being elected four years ago on a progressive reform agenda won their Democratic primaries Tuesday. In Fairfax County, the state’s most populous jurisdiction, incumbent Steve Descano defeated Ed Nuttall, a former prosecutor and trial attorney who is best known for representing police officers accused of misconduct.Descano, in a phone interview, said the results in his race and in the other two counties show that “voters have seen that criminal justice reform can work, and quite frankly they want more of it.”He said that while reform opponents have tried to raise fears about rising crime, Tuesday’s results show that “voters feel safe, they know they’re safe, and they know they can have safety, fairness, justice and equality.”Buta Biberaj, the commonwealth’s attorney in Loudoun County, won over challenger Elizabeth Lancaster after raising significantly more money. Biberaj faced...

4 pedestrians injured in apparent hit-and-run collision outside Chicago White Sox stadium

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:01:39 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — An apparent hit-and-run collision Tuesday evening injured four pedestrians, two critically, outside Guaranteed Rate Field, where the Chicago White Sox were preparing to play the Texas Rangers, and a related traffic incident injured four others, authorities said.The pedestrians were injured just after 6:20 p.m., Chicago police and fire officials said. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the pedestrians were headed to the ball game. The game had a 7:10 p.m. start time.One of the pedestrians held onto the car as it fled the scene before the vehicle was stopped by an ambulance on the nearby Dan Ryan Expressway, officials said. The person clinging to the car and one of the three outside the stadium were in critical condition. The other two pedestrians were in serious condition, officials said.Four people inside the vehicle were taken to hospitals in fair to serious condition, news outlets quoted authorities as saying. It wasn’t clear how they were injured.A statement...

In San Francisco, Biden talks with tech leaders about risks and promises of artificial intelligence

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:01:39 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Joe Biden convened a group of technology leaders on Tuesday to debate what he called the “risks and enormous promises” of artificial intelligence.The Biden administration is seeking to figure out how to regulate the emergent field of AI, looking for ways to nurture its potential for economic growth and national security and protect against its potential dangers. “We’ll see more technological change in the next 10 years that we saw in the last 50 years,” Biden said as the meeting with eight technology experts from academia and advocacy groups kicked off.“AI is already driving that change,” Biden said.The sudden emergence of AI chatbot ChatGPT and other tools has jumpstarted investment in the sector. AI tools are able to craft human-like text, music, images and computer code. This form of automation could increase the productivity of workers, but experts warn of numerous risks. The technology could be used to replace workers, causing layoffs. It’s ...

German arrested trying to enter US Embassy in Paraguay, guns found in vehicle

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:01:39 GMT

ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) — A German man in a bulletproof vest was arrested Tuesday after he tried to enter the U.S. Embassy in Paraguay without proper documents and police later found two guns and ammunition in his vehicle.The man, identified as Philipp Kolberg, told authorities he wanted to request political asylum because he was receiving threats, said Paraguayan police commander Gilberto Fleitas.“According to Kolberg’s version, he called the embassy asking to speak to a diplomatic representative but the person who attended his call said he should contact the German embassy,” said Fleitas.Kolberg then drove his vehicle to the front of the U.S. Embassy in Asuncion and was arrested by police and private guards because he didn’t have an appointment or documents, he said.Authorities found a Glock pistol, a rifle with a telescopic sight, a drone and 30 to 50 bullets in his vehicle, Fleitas said.Kolberg has not made comments to the press.“We are in contact with the German consulate (in A...

Alleged shooter at Washington state music festival was stationed at US Army base

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:01:39 GMT

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — The alleged gunman who fired into a crowd killing two people at a Washington state music festival Saturday was stationed at a U.S. Army base in Western Washington, law enforcement officials said Tuesday. James M. Kelly, 26, of Joint Base Lewis-McChord was booked into the Grant County Jail Tuesday on investigation of two counts of murder, two counts of assault and one count of domestic violence assault, Grant County Sheriff Joe Kriete said in a Facebook post. Law enforcement officers shot him Saturday and he was being treated at a hospital until Tuesday, the sheriff said. The shooting killed two people and wounded two others in an area where people were camping for the Beyond Wonderland electronic dance music festival at the Gorge Amphitheatre. The two people killed were Seattle residents Brandy Escamilla, 29, and Josilyn Ruiz, 26, Grant County Coroner Craig Morrison said Tuesday. Escamilla died of a gunshot wound to the head, and Ruiz died from a gunshot wou...

CPD looking for 2 suspects involved in West Pullman homicide

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:01:39 GMT

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Police Department is asking for the public's help in identifying two suspects involved in a homicide on the city's south side on Sunday.According to the Chicago Police Department, officers responded to the 11600 block of South Halsted Street in Chicago's West Pullman neighborhood just after 11 p.m. on Sunday, June 18. 8 in hospital after crashes involving same vehicle near Guaranteed Rate Field CPD are looking for the identity of a man and woman who are suspects in a homicide.The vehicle driven by the suspects is a blue Lincoln Nautilus.Anyone with information regarding this incident are asked to contact the Chicago Police Department at 312-747-8271.

Stunning photos document gay, Black life in 1980s Chicago

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:01:39 GMT

CHICGAO — Surrounded by more than 1,300 paintings in his South Side home, 76-year-old art collector Patric McCoy sits and sifts through a stack of snapshots.“I had sat on these photos since the 1990s because I just stopped,” McCoy said. “I have not done any photography since 1989.”They are individual photographs that together, reveal a bigger picture.  “When I reflect back on it, I realize that people had a longing to be photographed. Just as I think people who do the selfies, same thing,” McCoy said.The images offer a rare glimpse of gay Black life in Chicago during the 1980s, the pivotal period when the AIDS epidemic swept across the United States.It’s a story McCoy, an Englewood native captured on his commute. “I gave up my car back in ’81 and I’ve been riding (my bicycle) ever since,” he said.In the 1980s, McCoy a University of Chicago-trained scientist, worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Chicago office. Every morning, he rode his bicycle from South ...

Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill is under investigation for assault and battery

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:01:39 GMT

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill is under investigation by Miami-Dade police for assault and battery after he allegedly hit a man on Sunday.The incident was first reported by WPLG-TV in Miami after the station received a tip Sunday night. Miami-Dade police spokesman Angel Rodriguez confirmed Tuesday via email that police are investigating an “assault/battery” involving Hill from Sunday.The station reported that Hill got into an argument with an employee of a charter company at Haulover Marina in Miami, which apparently ended with Hill hitting the man. Morgan Wallen’s 2-year-old son bitten in the face by dog “We are aware of the situation and have been in contact with Tyreek, his representatives and the NFL,” a Dolphins spokesperson said Tuesday via email. “We will reserve further comment at this time.”The Kansas City Chiefs traded Hill to Miami last year, and the Dolphins gave the three-time All-Pro a $120 million, four-year contract extensi...

Trump calls for death penalty for drug dealers; Fox's Baier notes it would apply to woman he championed

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:01:39 GMT

(The Hill) - Former President Donald Trump in a Fox News interview advocated for imposing the death penalty on convicted drug dealers, even as anchor Bret Baier pointed out that the policy would have applied to Alice Johnson, a woman Trump granted clemency to and promoted in a Super Bowl ad for his 2020 campaign.Trump told Baier that he believed the country had to enact stronger punishments against drug dealers to bring down crime, including the death penalty. In defending his own record on crime, which has come under scrutiny in the 2024 primary, Trump said his pardon powers were focused largely on nonviolent offenders.Trump cited the case of Alice Johnson, whose sentence he commuted in 2018. Johnson was serving life in prison dating back to 1996 on charges stemming from cocaine distribution and money laundering. Johnson was later featured in a Super Bowl ad promoting Trump’s work on criminal justice reform. Despite his claims, Colorado says Joe Exotic isn’t on state’s presidenti...

Utah school district reverses decision on Bible, returns it to library shelves

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:01:39 GMT

DAVIS COUNTY, Utah (KTVX) - A northern Utah school district has reversed its earlier committee-based decision that removed the Bible from elementary and junior high school but kept it in high school libraries.This comes after a months-long debate in the Davis School District on whether the book was appropriate for all school-age children or only high school students. In December, the Davis School District received a request from an unknown person asking for the book to be reviewed amid a statewide law passed in 2022 that allowed residents to challenge the books found in school libraries. “Utah Parents United left off one of the most sex-ridden books around: The Bible,” the challenge said, referring to one of the primary groups involved in curriculum battles. “You’ll no doubt find that the Bible .. has no serious values for minors because it’s pornographic by our new definition ... If the books that have been banned so far are any indication for way lesser offenses, this should be a ...