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Muslim groups promise to monitor Quebec ban on school prayer spaces

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

MONTREAL — Muslim groups are speaking out against the Quebec government’s intention to ban prayer spaces in public schools, saying they will monitor how the Education Department enforces its new rules.In response to reports that at least two Montreal-area schools had reserved spaces for Muslim students to pray, Education Minister Bernard Drainville promised last week to prohibit schools from doing so. The minister, however, said he wouldn’t ban prayer altogether; students who wanted to pray should do so “discreetly” and “silently,” he told reporters.The National Council of Canadian Muslims said Monday it would keep tabs on how the government enforced the ban on prayer spaces, adding that it would “take action” if the rights of students were violated.“We haven’t actually seen how that is going to tangibly impact people,” Stephen Brown, chief executive officer of the council, said in an interview. “So (if) these d...

As St. Paul police plan to buy drones, public comment opens on policy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

After a man was fatally shot outside a St. Paul Target last week, police officers and K-9s searched on the ground, while law enforcement launched a drone to assist in the search for a suspect.A camera on the drone gave police a birds-eye view of the area and a thermal imaging camera allowed them to look for anyone hiding.St. Paul doesn’t have drones yet, so they asked for assistance of the Ramsey County sheriff’s office, which put up one of their drones. A suspect wasn’t found in Thursday’s case, but police say it’s an example of the kind of emergency situation for which St. Paul would use its own drones.The public can hear about the St. Paul Police Department’s plan to purchase drones  — and provide feedback about proposed policy — at meetings this week and next and an upcoming city council meeting. Allowing the opportunity for public comment is required before a law enforcement agency purchases a drone under state law, which the Amer...

Daily horoscope for April 11, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

Moon Alert: Avoid shopping or making important decisions from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. EDT today (3:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. PDT). After that, the Moon moves from Sagittarius into Capricorn.Happy Birthday for Tuesday, April 11, 2023:You care passionately about justice and causes that are important to you. You are optimistic, energetic and always helpful. This year it’s time to focus on creating solid foundations for yourself. Keep things simple. It’s time to be grounded and levelheaded.ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★★★This is a marvelous day for your sign. You feel upbeat, warmhearted and ready to include everyone in your plans. Your confidence is strong, and you feel happy. Indeed, others will admire your positive energy and want to be in your presence. Tonight: Get advice.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★★★Today you’re in touch with your spiritual feelings or your inner world in a positive, uplifting way. Something might inspire you. Because Mercury is in your sign, you will want to ...

Hamburg police warn of possible toxins due to fire; 140 evacuated

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

Hamburg's fire and police departments warned residents about possible toxic substances in the air following fires that broke out at several storage facilities early Sunday morning (9 April).A spokesperson for the police stated that 140 people were evacuated and that it was not possible to know how dangerous the situation was.A spokesperson for the fire department stated that they had decreased the threat level slightly, even though the fire was still burning at noon, but that people should stay indoors with their windows shut.According to authorities, the fire started in Rothenburgsort at 4 a.m., just a few kilometers southeast of central Hamburg. The smoke cloud was moving towards the city centre.Numerous emergency personnel, including fire and police officers, were on the scene to help. A thick cloud of smoke rose upwards.According to the police spokesperson, the sky had darkened due to the smoke.

Two man enter not-guilty pleas in slaying of man found burning in rural Bay Area field

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

Two West Sacramento residents charged with the murder of a Sacramento man, whose burned body was found in rural Vacaville last month, pleaded not guilty to the charge and denied all enhancements during an arraignment Monday in Solano County Superior Court.Attorneys for Emmanual Reginald Justin, 39, and Wendy Sue Warren, 38, shackled and clad in striped jail jumpsuits, entered the pleas on their behalf during the brief afternoon proceeding in Department 11 in the Justice Center in Fairfield.Chief Deputy Public Defender Oscar Bobrow represented Justin and Deputy Alternate Public Defender Paula Hensley represented Warren. Chief Deputy District Attorney Bruce Flynn appeared on behalf of the Solano County DA’s Office.After hearing the defendant’s pleas, Judge William J. Pendergast assigned the case to himself and ordered Justin and Warren to return to Department 11 at 8:30 a.m. April 24 for a preliminary hearing setting.As previously reported, Justin and Warren were arrested on March 28 ...

Repairs to a storm-battered Scenic Road in Carmel are almost done, county says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

CARMEL – Repairs on a section of Carmel’s main waterfront drive – which was damaged during January’s parade of winter storms – are nearing completion, according to the County of Monterey.For months, a quarter-mile stretch of Scenic Road has been closed to the public while infrastructure battered by heavy rain and high surf earlier this year underwent emergency restoration. Repairs began on Feb. 14 and are expected to finish on Friday.“We worked (on this project) in 10-hour shifts, six days a week for the past two and a half months,” said Enrique Saavedra, Monterey County Chief of Public Works, explaining that “time was of the essence.”Damages were primarily caused by storm surge. Saavedra previously told the Herald that severe weather at the start of the year brought repeated bouts of large waves to the beachfront slope that Scenic Road runs along. With the waves came erosion, exposing utilities housed in the road’s supportive slope while causing asphalt to crumble. The damage force...

Could sightings of jelly-like creatures on California beaches signal El Niño on the horizon?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

Jim Serpa was like a giddy school kid exploring Mother Nature’s classroom as he scanned the sand.“There’s one … there’s another,” Serpa exclaimed as he walked along the damp high-tide line in north San Clemente on Monday, April 10.Dotting the shore were hundreds of “by-the-wind sailors,” jelly-like creatures known for their beautiful blue hues that get pushed to Southern California from tropical waters by wind and ocean currents.Thousands of the creatures were spotted Friday, April 7, about two miles from shore and by the weekend many had washed up at various beaches between the South Bay, Huntington Beach, Crystal Cove and San Clemente.A “by-the-wind sailor” lies washed up on the Crystal Cove State Beach in Laguna Beach, CA on Monday, April 10, 2023. The jelly-like creatures are known for their blue hue when in the ocean. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)Several “by-the-wind sailors” lie washed up on the Crystal Cove State Beach in Laguna Beach, CA on Monday, A...

Fake food deliveries, drones and lax security: how drugs get into L.A. County’s juvenile halls

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

Two Los Angeles County juvenile facilities have such lax security that illicit substances and other contraband are thrown over fences, dropped by drones and even delivered by fake DoorDash drivers and others who walk through security without ever being searched, according to a new report by the county’s watchdog office.An investigation by the Office of Inspector General, submitted to the Board of Supervisors on Friday, April 7, cited a troubling lapse at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall as an example of the security issues at the juvenile halls. Two detainees overdosed, including a teen who was hospitalized twice in a two-day period, before the staff at Nidorf conducted a search of the unit where the teens lived. Both teens were saved using Narcan, which reverses opiate overdoses.The K-9 search of that single unit on March 1 — two days after the first overdose — uncovered 11 fentanyl pills, two unknown pills, large bindles of what appeared to be more fentanyl, a crushed pill on a windo...

California woman says she unwittingly was drawn into plot to kidnap Iranian opposition activist

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

When Niloufar “Nellie” Bahadorifar moved to Orange County from Canada in 2011, she appeared to be starting what could become a positive new chapter in what had, until then, been a difficult life.Years before, when she was 19 years old, Bahadorifar fled her home country of Iran. After ending up in Canada, she wed her husband in an arranged marriage, only to later suffer physical abuse at his hands, according to court documents.Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad gestures as she speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) Despite that, Bahadorifar had managed to build a career as an elementary school teacher and raise her young son. By 2011, she had divorced her first husband and was headed to California to be with her new husband.Just three years later, however, Bahadorifar would start corresponding with an old family friend in Iran. The messages between them would, by 2023, ultimately land her in prison, the o...

California man charged on suspicion of acting as an insurance agent without a license, pocketing premiums

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

A Fullerton man was charged on Monday, April 10, for his suspected role in acting as an insurance agent without a valid license and pocketing unearned premiums from cancelled policies.Gregory Magedman, a formerly licensed insurance agent, was charged in Orange County Superior Court with one felony count of grand theft by embezzlement after he allegedly secured insurance for a consumer and failed to give the payment to the insurance company, the California Department of Insurance said in a news release. He is suspected of keeping the money from the payments for personal use and leaving the consumer uninsured.In November 2011, Magedman, 77, was issued a suspension order by the Department of Insurance because of a criminal investigation. He pleaded guilty in 2012 to one count of grand theft and his insurance license was revoked by the state insurance agency.The most recent embezzlement charge stems from a 2018 investigation into Magedman after the department received a complaint allegi...