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Trump visits South Dakota for rally that Gov. Kristi Noem’s allies hope is vice presidential tryout

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:06:38 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — As his rivals hold town halls and meet-and-greets in early voting states, Donald Trump will head to South Dakota Friday for a party fundraiser that will double as an opportunity for the state’s governor, Kristi Noem, to showcase herself as a potential vice presidential pick.Trump will join the South Dakota Republican Party for a “Monumental Leaders Rally” in Rapid City. Noem will appear alongside the former president and is expected to endorse him, creating an image of the pair that Noem’s allies hope looks like a presidential ticket, according to two senior Republicans familiar with her thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity because she had not yet made her endorsement public.Trump’s decision to headline the event underscores his dominance of the Republican race even as he faces four separate indictments and 91 felony counts. South Dakota holds a late primary and isn’t competitive in a general election. But with a huge lead, Trump is skippi...

What to know about Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial so far, and what’s ahead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:06:38 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The historic impeachment trial that could remove Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from office began with testimony about an extramarital affair and the Republican’s former top aides testifying they felt compelled to report him to the FBI.Paxton, who is accused of bribery and abuse of office, skipped all of the early testimony. His wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, sat and listened to it all.The articles of impeachment center on allegations that Paxton improperly used the powers of his office to protect Nate Paul, an Austin real estate developer who was indicted this summer on federal charges of making false statements to banks.If convicted by the Texas Senate, where Republicans hold a dominant majority, Paxton would be removed from office and possibly barred from holding any political office in the future.A look at the trial so far and what is still to come.ACCUSERS TAKE THE STANDThe first witnesses were Paxton’s top former staff as Republi...

A Black man imprisoned since 1998 walks free and his attorneys raise concerns about police racism

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:06:38 GMT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — In the predawn hours of March 20, 1998, a neighbor heard screams coming from the home in Salem of Harriet “Sunny” Thompson and then saw a white man run from the house, leaving Thompson inside dead of stab wounds.Yet a Black man, Jesse Johnson, was convicted by a jury in 2004 of aggravated murder and sentenced to death. He walked free this week after 25 years behind bars when prosecutors decided to drop retrial efforts, two years after the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed Johnson’s conviction.The jury never got a chance to hear neighbor Patricia Hubbard testify to what she saw and heard that night. After Johnson was convicted, Hubbard told investigators that when she began describing what she had seen to a police detective, he responded, twice using a racial epithet: a Black woman got murdered and a Black man “is going to pay for it.”Johnson’s trial attorney never sought out Hubbard, a fact that the appeals court cited when it reversed the convict...

Thousands of residents return to Yellowknife, but many still out in other communities

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:06:38 GMT

YELLOWKNIFE — Thousands of people from the Northwest Territories have returned home this week after a wildfire evacuation order was lifted for Yellowknife’s 20,000 residents.The order for the territorial capital, which also included the First Nation communities of Dettah and N’Dilo, was downgraded Wednesday to an evacuation alert.“This is something to celebrate, but we have to remember there are still thousands of residents who are still evacuated from their home communities,” Premier Caroline Cochrane said during a media briefing late Thursday.“The government of the Territories is working hard with its partners to do everything possible to fight these fires, protect your communities and get you home and back to your everyday lives.”Officials said about 1,000 people, including 630 essential workers, had been flown back to Yellowknife by the end of Wednesday and repatriation flights continued Thursday.“We are making progress,” said Jamie Fulf...

India seeking greater voice for developing world at G20, but Ukraine war may overshadow talks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:06:38 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — It’s never been easy for the leaders of the world’s largest economies to find common ground, but the global ramifications of Russia’s war on Ukraine mean even greater challenges for meaningful agreement at the Group of 20 meeting this year.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this year’s host, has pledged not to let Ukraine overshadow the needs of the mostly developing nations in the so-called “ Global South,” but many of those issues are closely affected by the war. “New Delhi will not want to distract from the main agenda, which is to address issues of concern for the Global South,” said Nazia Hussain, an associate research fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. “So while there will be discussions on the emerging issues as a fallout of the war — supply chain security and decoupling, energy security, and food supply — the focus must remain on how to mitigate the fallout rather than debate the geopolitical/security aspects of the ...

As more children die from fentanyl, some prosecutors are charging their parents with murder

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:06:38 GMT

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — Madison Bernard climbed into bed before dawn with her toddler, Charlotte, who was asleep next to a nightstand strewn with straws, burned tinfoil and a white powder.Hours later, the mother woke and found her daughter struggling to breathe, according to investigators who described the scene in court documents.After being rushed in an ambulance to a hospital, the 15-month-old girl died from a fentanyl overdose. Her mother and father, whom authorities said brought the drugs into their California home, were charged with murder and are awaiting trial.The couple has pleaded not guilty but are part of a growing number of parents across the U.S. being charged amid an escalating opioid crisis that has claimed an increasing number of children as collateral victims. Some 20 states have so-called “drug-induced homicide” laws, which allow prosecutors to press murder or manslaughter charges against anyone who supplies or exposes a person to drugs causing a fatal overdose....

Texas high school football scores for Thursday, Sept. 7

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:06:38 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — It was a light Thursday night for football teams in the KXAN viewing area, but the KBVO Game of the Week went down to the wire.Cedar Park scored late and stopped Round Rock with less than a minute left to secure a 28-24 win at John Gupton Stadium.REPORT YOUR SCORE: We'd love to post your team's score on our website, but we need your help to do it. Email the score of your game to [email protected] and we'll get it on our websiteIn other action around the KXAN viewing area, Hays topped Cedar Creek 35-14 and Hendrickson beat McNeil 31-17. Rouse outlasted Glenn 34-31 and Wimberley improved to 3-0 with a 35-27 win over Brock on the campus of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton.Scores from around the KXAN viewing areaHays 35, Cedar Creek 14Hendrickson 31, McNeil 17Rouse 34, Glenn 31Wimberley 35, Brock 27Scores from around Texas compiled by KXAN and the Associated PressCLASS 6ACrowley 43, Mansfield Summit 14Eagle Pass 40, CC Moody 6Edinburg Vela 42, Weslaco East 35...

High school football: Nick Kinsey, Stillwater clutch late to beat Woodbury 28-25

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:06:38 GMT

Seeing its lead slip through its hands thrice in less than three minutes in the third quarter, Stillwater did not hang its collective head. It remained poised.And the youthful Ponies came through at crucial times throughout the fourth quarter.Emilio Rosario Matias scored on a 21-yard middle screen, Nick Kinsey was clutch with late third-down conversions before connecting on a 23-yard strike to Tanner Schmidt with 4:11 left, and the Ponies beat Woodbury 28-25 on Thursday at Royals Stadium in Woodbury.Kinsey threw for 343 yards and Joe Hoheisel caught 11 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns for Stillwater (1-1).“Electric, exciting, definitely gritty and a team win,” Kinsey said.Kinsey, a sophomore who has taken over for current Gopher Max Shikenjanski, was 28 of 48 with four touchdowns.“His arm is incredible,” Hoheisel said, “After Max, we didn’t know what we were going to get, but he came in here and has really helped the program. It’s wonderful to see him here, and I’m glad...

Iron Range ‘Razz Queen’ allegedly nets $117,000 from illegal lottery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:06:38 GMT

A woman calling herself the “Razz Queen” is accused of operating an illegal lottery that brought in more than $117,000 in less than 10 months.Authorities said Kathryn Jean Deblack, 39, of Hibbing, defied warnings from state agents to cease the raffles she conducted through Facebook — instead moving to disguise the scheme that eventually included roughly 200 paying participants.Deblack, according to court documents, allegedly claimed she was donating proceeds to local charities, but investigators said a financial review and interviews turned up minimal evidence to back that claim.She is now charged in State District Court with 12 gross misdemeanor counts of conducting a lottery.According to a criminal complaint:The Minnesota Gambling Control Board first alerted the state’s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division, known as AGED, in April 2021 after receiving information that Deblack was conducting raffles through a Facebook page called “Iron Range Razzles.”AGED, a law enforcement ag...

Minnesota secretary of state: Trump ballot eligibility not his decision

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:06:38 GMT

As a liberal watchdog group in Colorado begins pushing to have former President Donald Trump removed from the 2024 ballot on grounds that he supported an “insurrection,” Minnesota’s top elections official says his office doesn’t have the authority to make a decision on the issue.In recent weeks, Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, said he has received hundreds of “emails, calls and letters” about a legal argument based on a section of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution that Trump is no longer eligible to run due to his involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.Secretary of State spokesperson Cassondra Knudson said the majority of the contacts were emails asking if Trump could be removed from the ballot. However, Simon on Thursday said his office can’t determine whether it’s legal for the former president to appear on the ballot.“The Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State does not have legal authority to investigate a candidate’s eligibility for offic...