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Elon Musk’s refusal to have Starlink support Ukraine attack in Crimea raises questions for Pentagon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:59 GMT

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (AP) — SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s refusal to allow Ukraine to use Starlink internet services to launch a surprise attack on Russian forces in Crimea last September has raised questions as to whether the U.S. military needs to be more explicit in future contracts that services or products it purchases could be used in war, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Monday. Excerpts of a new biography of Musk published by The Washington Post last week revealed that the Ukrainians in September 2022 had asked for the Starlink support to attack Russian naval vessels based at the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Musk had refused due to concerns that Russia would launch a nuclear attack in response. Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and claims it as its territory.Musk was not on a military contract when he refused the Crimea request; he’d been providing terminals to Ukraine for free in response to Russia’s February 2022 invasion. However, in the months since...

B.C. premier announces task force on climate emergencies on tour of wildfire disaster

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:59 GMT

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — British Columbia will form an expert disaster task force providing rapid response and support for people and communities facing climate emergencies amid a historic wildfire season that has destroyed about 400 structures, mostly homes, said Premier David Eby.Eby made the announcement Monday as he visited the North Shuswap Lake area, located about one hour east of Kamloops, where the Bush Creek East wildfire destroyed almost 200 structures, including the firehall at Scotch Creek. “The goal here is that the task force will be working with the public service in partnership with the hard-working people from emergency response from the wildfire service to ensure we’re deploying additional resources, we’re deploying solutions as they’re recommended to us,” he said at a news conference in Kamloops.Some local residents in the Shuswap area ignored evacuation orders to stay behind and protect homes from the fast-moving fire.Hundreds of properties ...

Indigenous tribes urge federal officials to deny loan request for Superior natural gas plant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:59 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Indigenous tribes in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin have asked federal officials to deny a utility’s request for a loan to help build a natural gas-fired power plant on the shores of Lake Superior, calling the project unthinkable in the face of climate change.Chippewa tribes located across the northern third of the three states sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture officials on Sunday asking them to deny Dairyland Power Cooperative’s request for a $350 million public loan. The request is intended to cover the utility’s share of the cost of building the Nemadji Trail Energy Center power plant. “As our shared climate rapidly continues to destabilize, it is unconscionable that Dairyland Power Cooperative has not canceled its request for a $350 million public loan and permits to build Nemadji Trail Energy Center,” the tribes said in the letter. It added later, “In short, this location was never the place, and now is obvious...

Jill Biden calls swearing in of the 1st woman national archivist ‘momentous’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — First Lady Jill Biden saluted Colleen Shogan, the first woman to be sworn in as national archivist, saying on Monday that democracy’s power is “made real with access to history, unfiltered and uncensored.” Shogan, a former government and politics professor at George Mason University, heads the National Archives and Records Administration, which maintains billions of documents — including the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Louisiana Purchase, Harriet Tubman’s Civil War pension claims and Thomas Edison’s patent for the lightbulb.During a formal swearing-in ceremony, Biden noted that the nation’s historic documents were once held by George Washington and later by the State Department, before being entrusted to the National Archives, founded by Congress in 1934. “The history of a democracy belongs to its people, and we must preserve it with care for future generations,” the first lady said. “As far back as the Constitutional Conven...

Man who crashed car hours before Hurricane Idalia’s landfall is fourth Florida death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:59 GMT

DADE CITY, Fla. (AP) — A fatal single-vehicle crash just hours before Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Florida has been declared the state’s fourth death from the Category 3 storm, officials said Monday.A 40-year-old man driving in heavy rain went off the roadway and hit a tree near Dade City in the Tampa Bay area on Aug. 30, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Hurricane Idalia made landfall later that morning with 125 mph (201 kph) winds across the state in Florida’s remote Big Bend region.Other Idalia-related deaths in Florida confirmed by the state’s 25 local district medical examiners are a man who died in a traffic crash near Gainesville hours before Idalia made landfall, a windsurfer who went missing that same day off Florida’s Space Coast and an older adult who was struck by a falling tree after the storm passed while clearing debris with a tractor.A man in Valdosta, Georgia, also died when a tree fell on him as he tried to clear another tree ...

Colorado deputies who tased a man multiple times are fired following an investigation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:59 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Two Colorado sheriff’s deputies were fired after an investigation found their repeated use of Tasers against a man, including in his lower lip, was unjustified, the Las Animas County Sheriff’s office confirmed Monday.Deputy Mikhail Noel and Lt. Henry Trujillo violated a number of agency policies, including inappropriately using a Taser against Kenneth Espinoza while he was handcuffed and inaccurately reporting what happened, according to the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office.Investigators also recommended referring the matter for a criminal probe, alleging that Noel’s and Trujillo’s actions during the traffic stop escalated the use of physical force, bodily injury and false arrest. It is unknown if a criminal investigation has been launched.“The existence of excessive and unlawful force was so apparent here that there’s really only one conclusion,” said attorney Kevin Mehr, who’s representing Espinoza in lawsuits against the deputies and the sherif...

Joliet rodeo accused of animal abuse

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:59 GMT

JOLIET, Ill. — A popular Joliet rodeo has been hit with a temporary restraining order after an animal rights group documents alleged animal abuse.  This is part of a Mexican-style rodeo act which is popular not just in Illinois but around the country.  They’re well-attended with musical acts, food and alcohol being a big part of the experience. they can operate as long as owners follow animal welfare rules. Recently, an organization approached Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow with a video that showed a steer suffering a leg injury during a Joliet Labor Day rodeo act. Steve Hindi leads the organization “Showing Animals Respect and Kindness” or SHARK.He said, as far as he could tell, the animal didn’t get the proper care that day.   Recent investigates from Lourdes: Chicago’s ‘Rat’ Rage Grows “He should’ve been secluded if a vet is not on site,” he said. “The vet should have been called immediately and the animal needs to be put down. It ...

AJ Freund DCFS trial begins

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:59 GMT

MCHENRY COUNTY, Ill. — The trial for two former DCFS workers accused of reckless conduct related to the death of 5-year-old AJ Freund in April 2019 began on Monday.Andrew Polovin and Carlos Acosta were taken into custody and charged with two counts of endangering the life of a child and health of a minor and one count reckless conduct back in Sept. 2020.Both pleaded not guilty.Last December, a judge ruled that nearly 20 police reports that Polovin and Acosta allegedly failed to review will be allowed to be used in the trial.The same month Freund was killed, Acosta and Polovin were placed on desk duty and they both left the agency later that year.Carlos Acosta (L) and Andrew Polovin (R)Polovin was Acosta’s supervisor in the months before Andrew “AJ” Freund’s body was found in a shallow grave near his family’s Crystal Lake home in April 2019. Freund was tortured and beaten prior to his death.Documents allege that Polovin and Acosta “knowingly caused or permitted (AJ) … to be placed in...

White Sox-Royals game postponed Monday night due to rain

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:59 GMT

CHICAGO — The start of the White Sox second-to-last homestand of the 2023 season will have to wait thanks to Mother Nature.Due to rain in the Chicago area, the team has postponed their game on Monday night against the Royals which was scheduled to begin at 6:40 p.m. The White Sox-Royals game scheduled for Monday evening at Guaranteed Rate Field has been postponed due to rain..It will be made up as a straight doubleheader Tuesday beginning at 3:40 p.m..@WGNNews pic.twitter.com/ocZkWGF4JL— Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) September 11, 2023They won't wait long to make the game up with little time left in the season, so both teams will take part in a straight doubleheader on Tuesday. Game 1 will begin at 3:40 p.m. with the second game starting 30-to-45 minutes after that contest but not before 6:40 p.m. Gates at Guaranteed Rate Field will open at 2:40 p.m. and fans with tickets to the originally scheduled game on Tuesday can attend both games. Those holding tickets for Monday's game ...

Where Sunday ranks among the Bears' worst opening games

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:59 GMT

CHICAGO — Even for a team coming off a three-win season, Sunday was a worst-case scenario for the Bears to open the 2023 season. The team was dominated by the Jordan Love-led Packers 38-20 at Soldier Field in one of the more forgettable season openers in recent memory. Some have wondered where the defeat ranked among the worst first games in Bears' history. From a margin perspective, it's high, but nowhere near the top. The 18-point defeat to Green Bay is the eighth-worst defeat in Bears' Week 1 history and is the second-worst at home. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)The worst opener in Bears' history was on September 7, 2003, when the Dick Jauron-led team was trounced by the 49ers 49-7 at Candlestick Park. It was the start of a 7-9 season and the end of the Jauron era of the team.Three times the Bears have lost their season opener by 28 points, which is the second-worst in team history. That includes the worst Week 1 loss at home which occurred in 1975, when the Colts beat the...