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New report points to homicide rate declines in US cities after pandemic-era spike

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:12 GMT

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Homicides are declining in a cross-section of American cities, though their numbers remain higher than before the coronavirus pandemic took hold, according to a new report analyzing data from 30 U.S. cities. Homicides on average dropped 9.4% during the first half of 2023 as compared to the same period last year, the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice found in a report released this week.The numbers remained about 24% higher than they were in 2019, and motor vehicle thefts were up sharply in the analyzed cities. “We’re seeing a continuing decline in homicides, but most cities are not back to levels that prevailed prior to the pandemic,” said Richard Rosenfeld, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and co-author of the report.The report is based on crime data posed online by police departments in 37 cities of varying sizes around the country. Several...

Ticker: DeSantis seeks review of Florida’s holdings in Bud Light; the Boss and more

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:12 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Presidential candidate and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis wants Florida to investigate its investments in the company that makes Bud Light because of conservative backlash over a transgender social media influencer marketing the beverage.DeSantis said Thursday in a letter to the State Board of Administration that “all options are on the table” in its response to Dylan Mulvaney’s Instagram post of a video of her opening a Bud Light with her face on the can.The governor said that due to the backlash over the post, Anheuser-Busch InBev has suffered sales losses that could affect state investments. He added that the beer manufacturer’s “radical social ideologies” have turned Bud Light into a “social pariah” and losses have been “staggering.”DeSantis has previously made headlines by battling Walt Disney World over its opposition to a Florida law banning discussion of gender identity and sexuality orientation in schools, and has targeted other companies that ...

Red Sox Notebook: First-round pick Kyle Teel “hungry” for MLB future after signing

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:12 GMT

On Friday afternoon, a promising new member of the Red Sox organization got a taste of what his future holds.It only made him want for more.“I am so hungry to be out here one day,” Kyle Teel said as he stood by Fenway Park’s home dugout. “It’s finally coming true.”“I’m so excited to get going and ready to get to work.”The Red Sox selected Teel as the 14th overall pick in this year’s MLB Draft, and officially signed him on Friday; his $4 million bonus is about $660K under slot value.After getting the deal done, Teel took batting practice with the team while his family and agent, Scott Boras, looked on. At least one of his hits reached the top of the Green Monster, another landed deep in the visiting bullpen.That, too, was an exciting development for the young slugger. He’d played in a high school prospects exhibition game at Fenway in 2019, but said he wasn’t a home-run hitter “at all” back then.Boras...

Harris says Florida rules on Black history pushed by DeSantis are ‘propaganda’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:12 GMT

By CHRIS MEGERIAN and BRENDAN FARRINGTON (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris said extremists want to “replace history with lies” as she traveled to Florida on Friday to assail Republican efforts to overhaul educational standards, plunging into a battle over schooling that has rippled through classrooms around the country. “They dare to push propaganda to our children,” she said in Jacksonville. “This is the United States of America. We’re not supposed to do that.”Her trip came two days after the Florida Board of Education approved a revised Black history curriculum to satisfy legislation signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate who has accused public schools of liberal indoctrination. The new standards include instruction that enslaved people benefited from skills that they learned.“How is it that anyone could suggest that in the midst of these atrocities that there was any ben...

2,000-gallon sewage spill forces East Mission Bay closure

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:12 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A sewage spill has prompted a water contact closure for East Mission Bay Friday, San Diego County officials said.The area impacted includes the Mission Bay shoreline at Tecolote Shores, which is a half-a-mile north to Comfort Station; half-a-mile south to Tecolote Creek; and east to Fiesta Island, according to the County of San Diego Department of Environmental Health and Quality. Dispose of unwanted items for free at this ‘Dump Day’ event Around 2,000 gallons of sewage has entered the bay, per the county.Sewage contamination signs have been posted, while samples will be collected to assess water quality impacts.

Helicopter carrying state workers crashes into remote Alaska lake, no survivors found, officials say

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:12 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — No survivors were found after a helicopter carrying a pilot and three state workers crashed in a shallow lake in Alaska’s North Slope region, officials said Friday.The helicopter had been chartered by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, the department said in a statement Friday. It was carrying three employees from the Division of Geological and Geophysical Survey who had been conducting field work.“DNR is praying for our employees and the pilot, their families, and the DNR team,” the statement said. “We are continuing to await updates from the search and rescue effort.”The helicopter, a Bell 206, was reported overdue Thursday night. A North Slope Borough search and rescue team in a helicopter found debris matching the description of the missing helicopter, but no bodies had been seen or recovered, D.J. Fauske, the borough’s director of government and external affairs, said in a text to The Associated Press on Friday.The wreckage was found in a shall...

Police launch tip line in missing B.C. children’s alleged abduction

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:12 GMT

SURREY, B.C. — Police have launched a dedicated phone line and email account to gather tips for the Amber Alert case involving two missing British Columbia children alleged to have been abducted by their mother.Surrey RCMP say that the suspect, Verity Bolton, has access to “a number of trailers” along with a blue 2012 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup that was previously identified in the case.Police say in a statement they believe Bolton is travelling with both eight-year-old Aurora and 10-year-old Joshuah Bolton, along with her 74-year-old father Robert Bolton and 53-year-old boyfriend Abraxas Glazov.Authorities issued an Amber Alert on July 19 after the children were not returned as planned to their father, who has primary custody.Police say Verity Bolton was last seen at a Kamloops, B.C. grocery store, while the children were last seen July 7 at a gas station in Merritt, B.C.Investigators are asking those who may have information about the case to call 604-599-7676 or email surr...

DeSantis, in deeply conservative Utah, says he’s driven more by faith in God than by politics

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:12 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Ron DeSantis boasted Friday about his lengthy list of endorsements and support in Utah, telling a group of backers in the deeply religious state that he was driven by faith in God more than political ideology.As he works to reset a campaign confronting financial pressures and a static position in the Republican primary field, the Florida governor called the race a “state by state” contest and tried to endear himself to political leaders by likening Utah’s growing economy and their conservative governing strategies to his own.Speaking in front of a group of 17 state lawmakers in the Western state’s capital, DeSantis defended his campaign’s strategy and support in early states including Iowa and New Hampshire while pledging to focus on Super Tuesday contests like Utah’s.The state’s March 5 primary could be a beacon of strength for the Florida governor’s stalled bid. His primary rival Donald Trump has performed comparatively worse than othe...

Lionel Messi not in starting lineup for his Inter Miami debut against Cruz Azul

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:12 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami debut began on the bench.Messi was not in the starting lineup but was expected to play Friday night when Inter Miami hosted Cruz Azul in a Leagues Cup match at his new home stadium. Team officials said all tickets — about 21,000, in a newly expanded stadium — had been sold, though plenty were available for resale in the hours leading up to the match.Messi arrived with the team about two hours before game time, dressed in the team colors — pink T-shirt, black shorts. He stopped for a few photos and handshakes as he entered the tunnel leading to the locker room.It wasn’t clear how much Messi, a World Cup champion for Argentina and someone who Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham calls the best player ever, would be on the field in his debut. New coach Tata Martino said in recent days he would leave that decision up to Messi, who hasn’t played much of late and is working his way back into match shape.Messi signed a...

North Korea fires cruise missiles, stays mum on US soldier who crossed into country

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:12 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired several cruise missiles toward its western sea Saturday, South Korea’s military said, marking the second launch event this week apparently in protest of the docking of a nuclear-armed U.S. submarine in South Korea.While adding to its barrage of missile launches in recent months, North Korea remained publicly silent for a fifth day on the fate of an American soldier who bolted into the North across the heavily armed Korean border this week.South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launches were detected beginning around 4 a.m. but did not immediately report how many missiles were fired or how far they flew. It said the U.S. and South Korean militaries were closely analyzing the launches.On Wednesday, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles from an area near its capital, Pyongyang. They flew about 550 kilometers (341 miles) before landing in waters east of the Korean Peninsula.The flight distance of those missiles roughly mat...