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Retrial date set for man who claims self-defense in shooting death of former NFL star Will Smith

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:48 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Feb. 5 retrial date was set Wednesday for the man whose 2016 manslaughter conviction in the shooting death of former NFL star Will Smith was overturned because the jury’s verdict was not unanimous.Cardell Hayes, 36, has long insisted he shot Smith in self-defense during an April 2016 confrontation after a car crash.At his December 2016 trial, he said he fired at Smith, hitting him once in the side and seven times in the back, only because he believed Smith had retrieved a gun from his SUV. He insisted on the stand that he heard a “pop” before he started shooting and that he did not shoot at Smith’s wife, who was hit in the legs.There was no other witness and no forensic evidence to back up Hayes’ claim that Smith had wielded or fired a weapon.Hayes was convicted of manslaughter for Smith’s death and attempted manslaughter in the wounding of Smith’s wife, Raquel. He had served about four years of a 25-year sentence when his conviction was overtu...

Alabama school band director says he was ‘just doing my job’ before police arrested him

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:48 GMT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama high school band director said Wednesday that he was just “doing my job” when police officers arrested him and shocked with a stun gun after he refused to immediately stop the band as it played in the bleachers following a football game.Johnny Mims, the band director at Minor High School, told The Associated Press he was confused when officers pulled him from the director’s podium to arrest him following last Thursday’s game between Minor and Jackson-Olin high schools. “I was in shock. Just totally confused because I was pretty much doing my job, and I hadn’t done anything wrong. I definitely did not deserve to be Tased,” said Mims, who noted that he was shocked with the stun gun three times.Police body camera footage released Monday shows Mims being arrested and repeatedly shocked in a chaotic scene that included students screaming. Police charged him with disorderly conduct, harassment and resisting arrest.In the bod...

A new London exhibition highlights the untold stories of Black British fashion designers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:48 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A new exhibition is opening in London to chart for the first time the contributions that Black British culture made to U.K. fashion and design history and to celebrate Black designers who haven’t received public recognition.“The Missing Thread: Untold Stories of Black British Fashion” at central London’s Somerset House, which opens Thursday, pays tribute to the influence of Black designers in fashion from the 1970s. But it also spotlights the racism and other barriers they faced in an industry that remains difficult to break into for people of color.Curators said that the idea of a display celebrating Black fashion and culture has germinated for some time. But it was only after the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of U.S. police — and the global eruption of protests against racial injustice that was triggered — that momentum gathered for a show that also features broader social and political context, such as the rise of anti-immigration sentime...

For many displaced by clashes in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian camp, return is not an option

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:48 GMT

SEBLINE, Lebanon (AP) — Nearly a week after a cease-fire agreement between warring factions in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp brought a fragile peace, hundreds of displaced residents see no immediate prospects of return.Some have lost their houses, while others do not trust that the calm will hold. For many, it’s not the first time they have been forced to flee their homes.Among them is Munira Abu Aamsha, 63, who left the camp near the city of Sidon in southern Lebanon with her family, ducking from alleyway to alleyway under a rain of bullets.She has been sleeping for the past 10 days with her daughters and grandchildren in a classroom converted into a dormitory at a vocational training center run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, in the nearby town of Sebline.Abu Aamsha was born in the Tel al-Zaatar refugee camp near Beirut, where her parents had taken refuge after the war over the creation of Israel in 1948. She escaped from the camp as a tee...

Ahead of Ohio abortion vote, a court says some ballot language is misleading, must be rewritten

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:48 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A wildly divided Ohio Supreme Court ruled late Tuesday that only one element of the disputed ballot language for describing a closely watched fall abortion rights question is misleading and must be rewritten.The decision lets stand most of the word choices targeted in a lawsuit by Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, the pro-abortion rights ballot campaign, as well as the substitution of “unborn child” for “fetus,” which it chose not to dispute.But it also marked the high court’s second slap this year at the Republican-led Ohio Ballot Board’s chosen wording for describing constitutional amendments to voters. In June, justices ordered the panel to reword its description of a divisive August that constitutional amendment would have made amending Ohio’s constitution harder.In both cases, the summaries were advanced by Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, an abortion opponent and 2024 U.S. Senate candidate who chairs the panel in his role as s...

Grain spat drags Ukraine’s ties with ally Poland to lowest point since start of Russian invasion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:48 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A dispute about whether Ukrainian grain should be allowed to enter the domestic markets of Poland and other European Union countries has pushed the tight relationship between Kyiv and Warsaw to its lowest point since Russia invaded Ukraine last year. Polish leaders have compared Ukraine to a drowning person hurting his helper and threatened to expand a ban on food products from the war-torn country. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that EU allies that are prohibiting imports of his nation’s grain are helping Russia.Poland, on NATO’s eastern flank, has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine, sending weapons and humanitarian aid and opening its borders to refugees. Now, Polish officials, who are trying to win parliamentary elections next month with the help from farmers’ votes, are expressing dismay over some of Ukraine’s latest moves, including a World Trade Organization complaint over bans on Ukrainian grain from Poland and ...

Who's on top?: 1 Colorado school among U.S. News' top 100 universities

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:48 GMT

(The Hill) — U.S. News & World Report released its 2024 best college rankings list after making changes to how it would evaluate schools following criticism.Changes to the ranking formula included focusing on social mobility and outcomes for graduating students, such as how many students on Pell Grants graduate from a particular school. U.S. News also kept some of the more controversial aspects of its formula, such as having universities give peer evaluations of each other. “For 40 years, students and their families have come to count on Best Colleges as a vital resource as they navigate one of the most important decisions of their lives,” said Eric Gertler, executive chairman and CEO of U.S. News. “The significant changes in this year’s methodology are part of the ongoing evolution to make sure our rankings capture what is most important for students as they compare colleges and select the school that is right for them.”The new rankings showed little changes at the top. Pr...

Denver among the most expensive cities to buy a used car

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:48 GMT

(iSeeCars) -- Used car shoppers willing to look beyond their local market could save substantial money on their next purchase, depending on where they live and how far they can travel. iSeeCars compared the average cost of used cars across the U.S. and discovered a wide spectrum of pricing among the top 50 markets. Between the most and least expensive markets, Cleveland-Akron versus West Palm Beach-Ft. Piearce, the price difference for the average one- to five-year-old used car was more than $6,100.Summary:While the average price for a used car is $34,227, the price shifts $6,173 between the most and least expensive U.S. citiesCleveland-Akron is the least expensive area to buy a used car, with an average price of $31,458, or 8.1 percent, below the national averageWest Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce is the most expensive area to buy a used car, with an average price of $37,632, or 9.9 percent, above the national averageThe Ram 1500 has the biggest price difference between the least and most e...

Kane Brown to play show at Coors Field

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:48 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Coors Field has just announced its first concert of 2024, and country music star Kane Brown is headed to the Mile High City.Brown's "In the Air Tour" will be the first show to be played at the ballpark since 2022, according to Concert Archives. In 2024, Brown will hit the road for a massive 31-date tour. His second to last show will be in Denver on Sept. 6, 2024. Brown, along with Bailey Zimmerman, LOCASH and RaeLynn, will be entertaining all of Denver at Coors Field. Red Rocks announces ‘Sessanta’ tour dates, Riley Green concert in 2024 Brown is a five-time American Music Award-winning artist and has topped the country charts multiple times with hit songs like "Bury Me in Georgia" and "What Ifs."Register for tickets to see Brown at Coors FieldFans can now register for early access tickets to see Brown on Sept. 6. All you have to do is go to Brown's website, pick the Denver show and fill out your information. Presale tickets will go on sale on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at...

Vanna White extends her time at the puzzle board on 'Wheel of Fortune' for two additional seasons

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:48 GMT

Vanna White is not giving up her puzzle board when Ryan Seacrest takes over for Pat Sajak as host of “Wheel of Fortune.” In fact, she will be there for his first two seasons.Sony Pictures Television announced Tuesday that White has extended her contract with the game show — taking her through the 2025-26 season. Her contract was expiring at the end of the current 41st season, which Sajak announced earlier this year would be his last.White and Sajak have worked together since 1982 when “Wheel” began airing in syndication.Confirmation of White's contract extension was announced while Seacrest was taping an upcoming interview segment for “Sunday Today with Willie Geist."Seacrest called it “great news” and said that he has “been excited to work with her" and “can't wait.”He will make his “Wheel of Fortune” debut next fall.