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Pianist André Watts dies at age 77 of prostate cancer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:22 GMT

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Pianist André Watts, whose televised debut with the New York Philharmonic as a 16-year-old in 1963 launched an international career of more than a half-century, has died. He was 77.Watts died Wednesday at his home in Bloomington of prostate cancer, his manager, Linda Marder, said Friday. Watts joined the faculty of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2004. He said in 2016 that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.Watts won a Philadelphia Orchestra student competition and debuted when he was 10 in a children’s concert on Jan. 12, 1957, performing the first movement of Haydn’s Concerto in D major.He studied under Genia Robinor and made his New York Philharmonic debut in a Young People’s Concert led by music director Leonard Bernstein on Jan. 12, 1963, a program televised three days later on CBS.“Now we come to a young man who is so remarkable that I am tempted to give him a tremendous buildup, but I’d almost rather not so that yo...

Indiana police ask state to revoke license of treatment center where 3 patients died within a week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:22 GMT

MISHAWAKA, Ind. (AP) — Northern Indiana police have asked state officials to revoke the license of an addiction treatment center where three patients recently died within a week, saying that the less than year-old center is endangering its residents and placing a strain on law enforcement.The St. Joseph County Police Department said in a letter to state officials that Sheriff Bill Redman wants the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction to investigate Praxis Landmark Recovery’s 160-bed facility and requests that its license be revoked, the South Bend Tribune reported.“The facility is a large drain on our county first responder resources and is harmful to its patients and our community,” county police spokesman Troy Warner wrote to Jay Chaudhary, director of the state office.The request for state action comes as county police and the coroner’s office are investigating three deaths and two suspected overdoses in the past two weeks at the all-male drug and alcohol r...

Canada set to end domestic subsidies for unabated fossil-fuel production

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:22 GMT

OTTAWA — The Liberal government is expected next week to finally fulfil a promise Canada made 14 years ago to end federal subsidies that aid in the production of fossil fuels.Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says the policy directive will be similar to the one last year ending most of Canada’s public financing for international fossil-fuel projects.That means going forward, fossil-fuel projects could only receive federal funding if the government could square them with Canada’s climate commitments.Guilbeault says he won’t end subsidies for clean technology, such as carbon capture and storage systems, that help reduce or eliminate emissions from fossil-fuel production.G20 nations collectively promised in 2009 to start removing government dollars from projects that pull oil, gas and coal out of the ground.The Liberals at first promised to do it by 2025 but then moved the deadline up to the end of this year.This report by The Canadian Press was first published J...

Canadian Rangers to help evacuate Quebec Cree communities threatened by wildfires

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:22 GMT

MONTREAL — Ottawa is deploying Canadian Rangers to help evacuate northern Quebec communities threatened by wildfires.Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said today the government will also help fly people to safety.Quebec’s forest fire agency says there are 134 wildfires burning in the province, including 93 in the zone that includes several Cree communities. Canadian Rangers are part of the Canadian Army Reserve who live in remote, isolated and coastal regions of the country.The Grand Council of the Crees said Thursday that several coastal communities in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay territory were in pre-evacuation mode due to fires that were causing poor air quality and cutting off road access.The Cree nation of Eastmain, on the east coast of James Bay, declared a state of emergency late Thursday due to the fires and urged all residents to prepare for a full evacuation. The Cree Health Board reported that the communities of Nemaska, Waskaganish and Wemindji had also st...

Mexican president continues attacking opposition candidate, despite electoral agency’s order to stop

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:22 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president plowed ahead with attacks against the opposition front-runner for the 2024 presidential elections Friday, despite a ruling by electoral authorities that he has been violating equity and neutrality rules with such comments.President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has spent weeks using his morning press briefing to criticize Xóchitl Gálvez, a plain-talking senator and former indigenous affairs official. López Obrador is barred from running again after the end of his six-year term, and Gálvez hasn’t been nominated yet by opposition parties, but she has been gaining momentum.The complaints commission of the National Electoral Institute ruled late Thursday that López Obrador’s remarks “apparently violated the principles of equity, neutrality impartiality,” and ordered the president to “avoid commenting on electoral matters.”López Obrador claimed Friday that electoral authorities “are trying to silence me” and violate his freedom of exp...

Haiti human rights group warns kidnappings and killings are on the rise after a brief respite

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:22 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A leading human rights group in Haiti warned about an upsurge in killings and kidnappings as the U.N. Security Council met Friday to discuss the country’s worsening violence.In a report issued Thursday, the National Human Rights Defense Network also condemned what it called the government’s inaction.It noted that from May 1 to July 12, at least 75 people were killed and another 40 abducted. Among those killed are an attorney, a schoolboy, two morticians and at least six police officers. Those kidnapped include a female journalist from Radio Vision 2000 who was later released. Her husband, the former president of Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council, was abducted in mid-June and is still being held by gang members.Gangs are also accused of breaking into a hospital in the community of Canaan in the northern part of the capital, Port-au-Prince, stealing medical supplies and abducting at least six security guards. In addition, armed criminals last month set...

Capitol riot suspect arrested near Barack Obama’s home indicted on firearms charges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:22 GMT

A Capitol riot suspect who had guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in his van when he was arrested near former President Barack Obama’s Washington home has been indicted on federal firearms charges, authorities said Friday. Taylor Taranto, 37, was already facing misdemeanor charges stemming from his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, and a grand jury indicted him on additional felony charges alleging he illegally carried a firearm without a license and unlawfully possessed a large-capacity ammunition feeding device, prosecutors said. A magistrate judge earlier this week ruled that Taranto, of Pasco, Washington, must remain behind bars while he awaits trial because he would pose a danger to the community if released. Taranto’s attorney has said she will appeal that decision. Taranto’s attorney, Kathryn Guevara, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday on the indictment. Guevara has said that her client had been receiving mental...

Police: Six Flags Great America worker who 'accidentally bumped' ride passenger attacked

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:22 GMT

GURNEE, Ill.  — Three people attacked a Six Flags in Gurnee worker after the ride operator accidentally bumped one of the roller coaster passengers, police say. The incident occurred on Saturday, July 8, around 9:50 p.m. on a roller coaster ride platform. SEE ALSO: NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race cleanup scheduled to end this weekendAccording to police, upon the accidental contact, the passenger and their friends became irate and angrily charged toward the ride operator, hitting and throwing objects at him.The group then left the park when security and Gurnee officers were notified of the incident.As a result of the incident, 18-year-old Adrian Ortiz, of Chicago, was taken into custody and charged with mob action and battery. 6 teens arrested after fight outside Six Flags Great America A 14-year-old girl from Chicago and a 17-year-old girl from Skokie were also taken into custody. Each was referred to juvenile court for mob action and battery.Read more: Latest Chicago news headlinesT...

Summer of climate catastrophes brings risks for workers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:22 GMT

(The Hill) - In a summer filled with heat waves, fires, smoke and floods, workers face the brunt of climate-related catastrophes. Many workers have worked inside or outside in scorching heat or while breathing in smoke, putting them as risk for illness or even death. Heat deaths have killed dozens of workers each year, a total of more than 400 between 2011 and 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.And as climate change is expected to worsen, so too may these impacts. While heat risk isn’t new, “it’s certainly getting worse with climate change and as temperature and other factors really have exacerbated the issue,” said Rebecca Reindel, director of occupational safety and health at the AFL-CIO, the largest federation labor unions.For weeks, the southern and western U.S has sweltered under brutal heat from the combination of human-caused climate change and an unusually stable heat dome hovering above the Texas-Mexico borderlands.Those conditions have pushed ...

Bulls get some good news from the NBA this week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:22 GMT

CHICAGO — It may not make a massive impact on a team looking to take a step forward with essentially the same core in 2023-2024, but it will allow them to make an addition to their roster.This is thanks to a move concerning a Bulls' point guard who isn't expected to play this fall and winter.This week, the NBA granted the designated player exception for Lonzo Ball after it was approved by the league's "Fitness to Play" panel. So what does this mean for the Bulls? They can add another player to their roster ahead of the 2023-2024 season without it impacting their salary cap. There are some restrictions, however, as they look to add this person only for this season due to the designated player exception rules.The Bulls can sign a free agent for one season at 50 percent of Ball's salary ($10.2 million).They could also trade for or claim a player in the final year of his contract should that person's salary be at or under $10.2 million plus 100,000, per the rules of the NBA Collective B...