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Mother of 6-year-old boy who shot teacher faces sentencing for marijuana use while owning a gun

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — The mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot his teacher in Virginia is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday and could face prison time for using marijuana while owning a firearm, which is illegal under U.S. law.Deja Taylor’s son took her handgun to school and shot Abby Zwerner in her first-grade classroom in January, seriously wounding the educator. Investigators later found nearly an ounce of marijuana in Taylor’s bedroom and evidence of frequent drug use in her text messages and paraphernalia.The federal charges against Taylor come at a time when marijuana is legal in many states, including Virginia, while many Americans own firearms.Some U.S. courts in other parts of the country have ruled against the federal law that bans drug users from having guns. But the law remains in effect in many states and has been used to charge others including Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son.Federal prosecutors in Virginia argued in court filings that Taylor...

Target tops third quarter profit expectations, but inflation weighs on shoppers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Target on Wednesday reported a hefty third-quarter profit increase that handily beat Wall Street expectations as the retailer held down costs and cut inventory. Revenue slipped more than 4%, however, as customers saddled with broadly higher costs pulled back on spending as the holiday season nears. The Minneapolis retailer has been trying to right itself after loading up with too much inventory last summer and was forced to discount heavily to clear it. Now, many customers are making tough decisions about what they can afford because prices for food and other basics have climbed. Inflation has moderated, but a bigger chunk of paychecks is needed to cover immediate needs. CEO Brian Cornell said on a conference call with reporters on Tuesday that higher interest rates, increased credit card debt and reduced savings rates have left customers with less discretionary income, forcing them to do trade-offs. For example, he said that the chain is seeing more consumers making...

Hialeah Police seek help from public in locating missing 13-year-old girl

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

The Hialeah Police Department is seeking help from the public in locating a 13-year-old girl reported missing.Jade Mary Lopez stands 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 115 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen in the vicinity of East 4th Avenue and East 13th Street. She was last seen wearing a blue shirt, blue jeans and carrying a black book bag with red flowers.Anyone with information on Jade’s whereabouts is urged to contact the Hialeah Police Department at (305) 687-2525.

Pompano Beach couple robbed at gunpoint of $44,000 worth of items after returning home from dinner

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

A routine night out for dinner took a harrowing turn for a Pompano Beach couple when they were ambushed upon returning home, falling victim to an armed robbery that cost them more than $44,000 worth of belongings.On Monday, Oct. 30, just after 10 p.m., Broward Sheriff’s Office Robbery Unit detectives responded to the incident at a residence in the 2600 block of Northeast Sixth Street in Pompano Beach. According to investigators, the husband and wife had returned home from dinner, opened their garage door and were confronted by an armed man as they entered.According to BSO, the husband, upon opening his car door, was ambushed by an individual wielding a gun. Described as wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black track pants, the suspect reportedly demanded the couple’s belongings, which included two iPhones, a Rolex and a purse containing a wallet with credit cards.The armed criminal then fled towards the roadway, where a black sedan was waiting. The suspect escaped westbound...

New Slovak coalition embraces revenge, radicalism

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

BRATISLAVA — Slovakia’s new prime minister, Robert Fico, presented a tax-and-spend program for approval by the country’s parliament on Tuesday as his government embarked on a four-year term. Pensioners, mortgage holders, and low-income groups were the principal targets of extra public money. Nominations to the government, however, suggest the ruling coalition has another policy agenda, which includes protecting key allies from legal jeopardy and thumbing its nose at liberal democracy.His cabinet features politicians previously charged with crimes, including Fico himself and former Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák, who now has the defense portfolio. Deputy Justice Minister Pavol Gašpar was also previously charged; cases against all three men were later dropped. But Pavol Gašpar’s father, Smer MP Tibor Gašpar, remains indicted as the alleged head of a criminal group that operated within the police — as is central bank governor Peter Kažimir, a former finance ministe...

Portugal still ‘safe’ for mining investments, minister says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

Despite an ongoing corruption probe, Portugal remains “safe” for investments in lithium mining, the country’s economy minister said Wednesday. “I think Portugal is one of the safest places in the world” for investments in lithium mining, António Costa Silva told POLITICO’s Sustainable Future Week summit. “We are a country where the rule of law is crucial, and no one is above the law.”Portuguese authorities are investigating possible acts of corruption, influence peddling and malfeasance in connection with the concession of lithium mining projects in the north of the country, a green hydrogen mega-project and a data center in Sines. The projects add up to an investment of €23.5 billion.The scandal has dealt a heavy blow to Brussels’ ambitions to diversify its supply of raw materials needed for green and digital technologies, as Portugal’s lithium deposits are seen as central to those efforts.Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa ...

Ukraine hopes for more air defenses from Germany’s spending boost

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

BERLIN — German lawmakers on Thursday will debate doubling next year’s military aid to Ukraine to €8 billion, and Kyiv is hoping that a lot of that new cash will go to air defense.There’s also pressure to use the money to send Ukraine Germany’s bunker-busting Taurus cruise missiles — something Berlin has so far avoided doing.“We need to strengthen both air defense to protect strategic facilities and infrastructure facilities, as well as front-line air defense,” said Illarion Pavlyuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s defense ministry. “Our needs remain the same.”Pavlyuk added that “Ukraine also needs ammunition of various types.” And not just conventional small arms ammunition or artillery and tank shells, but most importantly, the surface-to-air interceptors and antiaircraft ammunition that protect Ukraine’s skies. This kind of ammunition “is a constant need.”Germany is already the largest military aid donor to Ukraine in Europe and second in the world behind the U...

Abington police looking to ID truck owner and driver after 18-wheeler spilled cement on street and drove off

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

Police in Abington are looking to identify who it was that drove off after spilling a load of cement in town, causing damage to multiple vehicles.Posting to their Facebook page, the Abington Police Department said it was Tuesday morning when a truck carrying cement spilled some of its cargo on Bedford Street, near the fire station.Citing multiple eyewitnesses, police said that after the spill occurred, the driver allegedly pulled over and stopped before driving off toward Route 18.Multiple cars were damaged as a result of the spill, Abington PD said. To prevent further damage, three lanes of traffic ended up having to be closed as DPW crews cleaned up the area.Police later shared images of what appeared to be the truck mid-spill, captured on surveillance video from local businesses.The yellow vehicle, initially described as a Mack truck, was sighted traveling on the roadway around 8:25 a.m.As Abington PD works to identify the driver and the company that owns the truck, police ask th...

Bill Bans Native-American Mascots At Mass. Public Schools

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

The 23 schools in Massachusetts that use an image of an indigenous person as their school mascot would have to start looking for new names and logos under a bill that advocates are hoping will get passed this session.After years of contentious debate over Native American mascots in school districts, some indigenous activists say it’s time to take the decision out of local hands.“Unfortunately, today, the remaining schools with native mascots are stubbornly attached to controlling our native identities, which they’re using against our permission,” said Rhonda Anderson, a Iñupiaq – Athabascan Native American and western Massachusetts representative on the state Commission on Indian Affairs.The Rep. Brandy Fluker Oakley and Sen. Joanne Comerford bill (H 477 / S 245) would require that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education bar Massachusetts public schools from using an athletic team or school mascot name that represents or is associated with Nativ...

Mass. Legislature to vote on long-term care, prescription drug bills on last day of formals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:25 GMT

House lawmakers are expected to vote on legislation overhauling the long-term care industry Wednesday while the Senate will take up a bill that looks to address the increasing costs of prescription drugs.The two votes on major health care proposals cap off formal law making for the year. Legislators on Beacon Hill will head into the holiday break Thursday with only informal sessions — where a single lawmaker can object to a bill — scheduled until the new year.The two votes come as the House and Senate are also working out a separate multi-billion proposal that closes out the books on fiscal year 2023 and shuttles $250 million to shelters in Massachusetts housing migrant and homeless families with children as well as pregnant people.Both health care bills are priorities of House Speaker Ronald Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka. Mariano said the nursing home sector has “long faced” workforce and financial challenges that were made worse by the pandemic.“Addressing persistent c...