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Racist texts by California police lead to federal lawsuit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:26 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The city of Antioch, California and members of its scandalized police force have been hit with a federal lawsuit for civil rights violations stemming from a barrage of racist text messages that have shocked the community. John Burris, an Oakland-based civil rights attorney known for his work exposing police brutality, filed the complaint in federal court Wednesday on behalf of four individuals who say they were targeted by police officers who sent text messages using slurs to describe Black people and boasting about fabricating evidence and beating on suspects. A fifth plaintiff is suing on behalf of his father, who was shot and killed by two of the officers involved in the text scandal. “This fact pattern is the most pervasive racial hatred case I’ve ever been involved in,” said Burris at a news conference Thursday outside the Antioch Police Department, during which he listed the racial slurs and derogatory terms used by officers. “This conduct itself was...

Arizona GOP loses bid to undo $18K in fees over 2020 lawsuit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:26 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — An appeals court has rejected a bid by the Arizona Republican Party and its lawyers to undo $18,000 in attorneys’ fees that they were ordered to pay for bringing one of the party’s failed lawsuits challenging President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state.In an order Thursday, the Arizona Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of the party’s lawsuit, concluding that evidence supported a lower-court judge finding that the party’s legal claims were groundless and rejecting its allegation that the judge stuck them with the attorneys’ fees for primarily political motives. The appeals court wrote, “The First Amendment does not shield attorneys or parties from a court’s obligation” under a law requiring judges to impose attorneys’ fees against those who bring claims to court without substantial justification or to delay or harass. In a statement, the Arizona Republican Party said, “We were surprised by the court’s decision, and will be speaking with legal counsel soon to ...

Indigenous groups going to court over Quebec’s French-language reforms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:26 GMT

MONTREAL — Two Indigenous groups are going to court over the reforms passed last year to Quebec’s French-language law, with lawyers filing a request for a judicial review on Thursday.The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador and the First Nations Education Council are asking Quebec Superior Court to look at 14 articles in the Charter of the French Language, which was amended by Bill 96 last June. They have argued the provisions infringe on their rights to self-determination and to teach children their ancestral languages, as stipulated in the Constitution Act of 1982.“The provisions reinforce, perpetuate and accentuate the disparities between Indigenous students and non-Indigenous people in education, deepened by policies and assimilationist laws implemented historically by the state and the education system towards Indigenous Peoples,” read the request for judicial review.The groups have accused the government of failing to consult them before adopting the law...

2050 a more important climate target than 2030, proponents of carbon capture say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:26 GMT

CALGARY — Alberta’s new climate plan drew criticism this week for its lack of interim emissions reduction targets, but proponents of carbon capture and storage technology say it’s important to be realistic about how quickly major projects can be deployed.“Whether we like it or not, it’s going to take time,” said James Millar, president and CEO of the International CCS (carbon capture and storage) Knowledge Centre, a non-profit organization based in Regina.“It comes down to getting these projects built. And in an optimal world, that will take six or seven years.”Most climate models suggest the large-scale deployment of carbon capture technology — which is used to trap harmful greenhouse gas emissions from industrial processes and store them safely underground — will be necessary if Canada is to have a chance of meeting the net-zero-by-2050 target the federal government has committed to.There are currently more than 50 proposed carbon capture ...

Connecticut landlord to pay $400,000 for tenant harassment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:26 GMT

NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) — A former Connecticut landlord must pay $400,000 to settle a federal lawsuit alleging he violated the Fair Housing Act by sexually harassing and victimizing his female tenants for at least five years, including evicting or threatening to evict those who objected to or refused his sexual advances. In an agreement reached by the U.S. Justice Department’s Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative and announced Thursday, $350,000 of the funds will be deposited in a settlement account to benefit tenants harassed by landlord Richard Bruno. The remaining $50,000 is a federal civil penalty. “No person should ever have to endure sexual harassment in order to get or keep housing,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. Bruno, who managed multiple rental properties in New London, is currently serving a 16-year sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2017 to producing child pornogra...

Defense rests at sedition trial for Proud Boys leaders

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:26 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense attorneys on Thursday finished presenting their trial testimony for the landmark case against former Proud Boys national leader Enrique Tarrio and four other group members charged with conspiring to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 election.Federal prosecutors have a right to call rebuttal witnesses to testify before jurors hear attorneys’ closing arguments and begin deliberating. The trial, which started more than three months ago, is scheduled to resume on Friday.Lawyers for the five defendants rested their respective cases on the 50th day of trial testimony. The last defense witness to testify was one of the five defendants, Dominic Pezzola, who was a Proud Boys member from Rochester, New York.The jury is poised to decide one of the most important cases from the Justice Department’s investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Tarrio and his co-defendants are charged wi...

B.C.’s Terminal 2 Roberts Bank project gets federal approval; 370 binding conditions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:26 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal government has announced the approval of a contentious container port expansion project at Roberts Bank, south of Vancouver.The government says in a statement the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project, proposed by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, can proceed subject to 370 legally-binding conditions to protect the environment and prevent harm to local species.The government says the Canada Pacific Gateway area is the country’s most important trade corridor, with more than $275 billion in trade passing through the port authority each year.It says the terminal project is estimated to increase capacity at the port in Delta, B.C., by 50 per cent.One of the approval conditions involves monitoring noise levels and implementing procedures to delay departure of container vessels to protect the area’s Southern Resident Killer Whales.The government says the approval of the project comes after extensive consultations with local communities and Indigenous groups.T...

Guatemala orders arrest of lawyers for imprisoned journalist

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:26 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A Guatemalan judge on Thursday ordered the arrest of three lawyers defending jailed journalist José Rubén Zamora.The announcement by prosecutors was the latest in a case that has drawn concerns about press freedom in Guatemala.Zamora is the director of El Periódico, a newspaper that has published critical articles about alleged corruption under President Alejandro Giammattei.The award-winning editor was arrested nine months ago on charges of blackmail and money laundering.Prosecutors said the judge issued arrest warrants for Zamora’s defense attorneys, including lawyer Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa, an opposition activist. Foppa said he was arrested while traveling to the court to turn himself in.The lawyers are accused of participating in the alleged money laundering by negotiating a sales contract for an artwork to cover up money given to Zamora.Press freedom groups have said the prosecution of Zamora is politically motivated. His defense has maintaine...

'I'm cancer free:' White Sox closer Liam Hendriks is in remission

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:26 GMT

CHICAGO — The White Sox along with all of Major League Baseball got some great news from one of the best closers in the game on Thursday.On his Instagram account, Liam Hendriks posted that he's in remission and is cancer free after undergoing treatments for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma during the first part of 2023.Along with a collection of videos and photos from his treatments, Hendriks wrote: "How It Started VS How It’s Going….REMISSION. It’s official. I’m cancer free." Liam Hendriks' positive update on his cancer treatments on Opening Day The closer, who has been with the White Sox since 2021, announced that he was diagnosed with disease back on January 8 and began treatment the next day. On April 5, Hendriks announced that he completed his chemotherapy sessions, posting a video of himself ringing the "victory bell' along with a lengthy tribute to his wife, Kristi, and medical personnel.The White Sox had a number of efforts to show support for the closer during his cancer fight, inc...

Skilling: Tornado Watch issued for Chicago until 8 p.m.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:26 GMT

The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado Watch until 8pm for northeast Illinois, including Chicago. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Warmth, elevated humidity's, an incoming cold front and a jet stream overhead are not a great mix if one want to avoid t-storms.Modeling and radar scans depict t-storm bubbling up through the atmosphere and like to be traversing the Chicago area in the 5 to 9 p.m. time frame.Thursday's already featured t-storms—and temps have surged to within striking distance of 8 degree, marking the 8th time in this 20-day old month we've managed temps at or above 70. The month of April is running 7 degree above normal and 10 degree warmer than the opening 20-days of the month a year ago. April 2023 to date ranks 5th warmest of the past 151 Aprils.Hail and rotating super cellular t-storms are occurring with warnings for severe storms and potential tornadoes already out in western Illinois. Radar there is indicating storm cells racing east/no...