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School shooter asks for mercy from life sentence; teacher, principal want him to stay in prison

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:31 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A school shooter serving a life sentence without parole for killing a first grader on a South Carolina playground when he was 14 is asking a judge to lessen his sentence so he can eventually get out of prison.Jesse Osborne’s lawyer asked Judge Lawton McIntosh on Monday to reconsider his sentence so Osborne, now 21, could have some hope of freedom in his 50s or 60s.Attorney Frank Eppes said the judge didn’t fully consider a psychologist’s report that Osborne’s lashed out because of abuse and can be rehabilitated.“Give Jesse some hope to live with,” Eppes said at a televised court hearing.Osborne himself asked for a chance at life outside a prison cell, apologizing to the family of 6-year-old Jacob Hall who he killed and everyone at the school that day.“I would just like to say sorry to every single one of them. Because my evil actions hurt their lives,” Osborne said. “I’m just going to try to better myself in the Department of Corrections...

Montana governor signs law to define ‘sex’ as only male or female

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:31 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Republican Governor Greg Gianforte has signed a bill defining the word “sex” in state law as only male or female — joining Kansas and Tennessee, which have similar laws that LGBTQ+ advocates argue will deny legal recognition to nonbinary and transgender people.Medical professionals say the laws also ignore that some people are born as intersex — a term that encompasses about 60 conditions in which a person is born with genitalia, reproductive organs, chromosomes and/or hormone levels that don’t fit typical definitions of male or female.The sponsor of the bill said the change is needed to clarify from a legal standpoint that “sex” and “gender” don’t mean the same thing.The Montana bill “is an attempt to erase trans, nonbinary and two-spirit people from the code, thereby removing the rights, privileges and considerations that trans, nonbinary and Two Spirit people would have under the law,” said SK Rossi last month, testifying against the legislation on beha...

Columnist adds Trump’s post-verdict comments to pending defamation case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:31 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for a columnist who won a $5 million sexual abuse and defamation award against former President Donald Trump filed an amended lawsuit against him on Monday seeking to hold him liable for remarks he made after the verdict.The amended lawsuit, seeking at least $10 million in compensatory damages, was filed in Manhattan federal court by lawyers for E. Jean Carroll, who says remarks by Trump after she made rape allegations against him so spoiled her reputation that she lost her longtime job as an Elle magazine advice columnist.A nine-person jury two weeks ago decided that Trump had sexually abused Carroll at an upscale Manhattan department store in early spring 1996.Carroll, who testified during the trial, first revealed in a 2019 book her claims that Trump raped her in a dressing room, but the jury rejected that claim.Joe Tacopina, a Trump lawyer, declined to comment on the new claims.Kaplan filed the new claims in amending a defamation lawsuit that was put on h...

Nebraska woman pleads guilty to burning fetus after abortion while case against mom progresses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:31 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska woman pleaded guilty Monday to burning and concealing a fetus after she took medication to end her pregnancy, while prosecutors move forward with a criminal case accusing her mother of illegally helping with the abortion.Celeste Burgess, 18, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of concealing or abandoning a dead body and prosecutors dropped two misdemeanor charges. They also and agreed not to charge her with anything else. The fetus was found buried in a field north of Norfolk in northeast Nebraska.Her mother, Jessica Burgess, 42, is accused of illegally helping with the abortion last spring. The prosecutor involved has said he had never before charged anyone with violating Nebraska’s 20-week abortion limit that was passed in 2010.On Monday, Jim Pillen signed a 12-week abortion ban into law. It took effect immediately.That case in Madison County against the mother and daughter is based partly on Facebook messages the two women exchanged about their plan to...

Ray Stevenson, of ‘Rome’ and ‘Thor’ movies, dies at 58

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:31 GMT

Ray Stevenson, who played the villainous British governor in “RRR,” an Asgardian warrior in the “Thor” films, and a member of the 13th Legion in HBO’s “Rome,” has died. He was 58.Representatives for Stevenson told The Associated Press that he died Sunday but had no other details to share on Monday.Stevenson was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, in 1964. After attending the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and years of working in British television, he made his film debut in Paul Greengrass’s 1998 film “The Theory of Flight.” In 2004, he appeared in Antoine Fuqua’s “King Arthur” as a knight of the round table and several years later played the lead in the pre-Disney Marvel adaptation “Punisher: War Zone.”Though “Punisher” was not the best-reviewed film, he’d get another taste of Marvel in the first three “Thor” films, in which he played Volstagg. Other prominent film roles included the “Divergent” trilogy, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” and “The Transporter: Refueled.”A loo...

Argentina introduces larger bank note amid galloping inflation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:31 GMT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina has put a new 2,000-peso bill into circulation as the country endures one of the world’s highest inflation rates that has decimated the value of the local currency.The new bank note is worth double the previous highest bill in circulation, but is still worth only $8.21 at the official exchange rate and $4.08 at black-market rates. Stringent capital controls mean that access to the official foreign exchange market is extremely limited, and the peso is worth far less in parallel markets.With an annual inflation rate that hit 109% in April, retail businesses and banks have been complaining about the difficulties of operating when the highest bill in circulation is of such little real value.People paying bills with wads of cash has become a common sight and ATMs regularly run out of money, particularly on weekends and holidays.A large sector of Argentina’s economy is informal so cash payments remain common.The Central Bank said in a news release ...

Police: Connecticut man arrested for leading ‘street takeovers’ including racing and blocking roads

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:31 GMT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut man was charged Monday with rioting and other crimes after police said he led a series of “street takeovers” across the state over the weekend involving illegal racing and mobs of people blocking roads.State police said they arrested Jefferson Duron, 20, of Norwalk, shortly after 1:30 a.m. following the takeovers in Hartford, Tolland and New Haven counties involving more than 200 people on Sunday. Troopers said they pulled him over near Milford after his car was identified as one of the vehicles leading the events.It wasn’t immediately clear if Duron has a lawyer who could respond to the allegations. He was detained on $250,000 bail.At one of the takeovers in Tolland on Sunday night, dozens of people blocked a main road leading to the University of Connecticut in nearby Storrs, just off Interstate 84. There were reports of bystander vehicles getting struck by baseball bats, an ambulance being damaged during a medical call and participants s...

A’s broadcaster Glen Kuiper let go after racial slur on air

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:31 GMT

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Oakland Athletics broadcaster Glen Kuiper was let go by NBC Sports California after using a racial slur during a telecast while describing a trip to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.Kuiper was suspended by the network earlier this month following his slur that aired during a pregame segment of an A’s game against the Kansas City Royals on May 5. Kuiper talked about a trip to the museum with colleague Dallas Braden but seemingly mispronounced the word “negro,” making it sound instead like a slur.“Following an internal review, the decision has been made for NBC Sports California to end its relationship with Glen Kuiper, effective immediately,” the network said in a statement Monday. “We thank Glen for his dedication to Bay Area baseball over the years.”A person familiar with the investigation said “the decision was based on a variety of factors, including information uncovered in the internal review.” The person spoke on condition of anonymity and didn...

4-year-old boy’s body found in surging California river, day after sister found dead

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:31 GMT

SANGER, Calif. (AP) — A search crew found the body of a 4-year-old boy in a surging California river on Monday, a day after his 8-year-old sister died when the siblings were swept away by the current, authorities said. Searchers in a boat spotted the boy’s body caught against a tree in the Kings River about 1.75 miles (2.8 kilometers) downstream from where he and his sister went into the water, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The river has been closed to recreational use because of high water levels.Sheriff’s deputies responded at around 2 p.m. Sunday and the girl was found dead less than an hour later. About 40 rescue personnel using boats, a helicopter and a drone continued the search for her brother about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from Pine Flat Dam near Sanger, a city of about 26,000 people east of Fresno.Officials did not immediately release the children’s names or say what killed them. The children, who were not wearing life jacket...

CPD: 18 males broke into USPS office in Loop overnight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:31 GMT

CHICAGO — Police are searching for as many as 18 males who broke into a USPS office found in the Thompson Center in the Loop early Monday morning. Police said the group broke into the front doors at the postal office near the 100 block of West Randolph Street around 12:35 a.m. It is unclear at this time if anything was taken from the post office.According to a statement from USPS, "The US Postal Inspectors and Chicago Police Department are investigating the property damage incident at the Post Office located at the Thompson Center."WGN also reached out to USPS for comment on what Chicagoans should do if they have mail to pick up or drop off at their Thompson Center location, as well as if there will be an alternative location available to do so while it is closed. They have yet to reply.Advocates from the nearby West Loop Community Organization said incidents like this are a cause for concern for everyone in the area. The group has been advocating for more safety measures, including...