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UN agencies decry humanitarian crisis in Haiti and seek help for hungry families fleeing violence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:45 GMT

JEREMIE, Haiti (AP) — The executive directors of two U.N. agencies warned Tuesday that Haiti’s humanitarian crisis has reached unprecedented levels amid reports of widespread hunger and gang violence.Per capita, the number of Haitians facing emergency-level food insecurity is the second highest in the world, with nearly 5 million struggling to eat every day, said Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Program. More than 115,000 children younger than 5 also are expected to struggle with malnutrition this year, a 30% surge compared with last year.“In many ways, Haiti is forgotten,” she told The Associated Press while on a three-day trip to the Caribbean country. “It is urgent that we pay attention.”Overall, more than 5 million people in the country of more than 11 million need urgent humanitarian support, according to the U.N. agencies.“Humanitarian needs are even greater today that after the devastating 2010 earthquake, but with far less resources to respond,” said Cather...

Company says it can’t say for sure whether more air-bag inflators might explode and hurl shrapnel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:45 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — A company that makes air-bag inflators that have exploded in eight incidents involving two deaths and seven injuries argued Tuesday that it can’t say for sure whether its inflators might cause further such incidents.In a reply to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the company, ARC Automotive of Knoxville, Tennessee, said that even adhering to industry quality standards cannot fully eliminate the risk of occasional failures in which the air-bag inflators might explode and spew shrapnel.NHTSA has demanded that ARC recall 67 million inflators in driver and passenger front air bags from at least a dozen automakers. Neither ARC nor the auto industry has released a full list of vehicle models with the kind of air bag inflators that have exploded. But at least 33 million vehicles on the road are believed to contain them.ARC has refused to issue a full-scale recall, setting the stage for a possible court fight. The company maintains that no safety defec...

Jill Biden: Consequences of overturning Roe v. Wade ‘go far beyond the right to choose’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:45 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden said Tuesday that the consequences for women of losing the constitutional right to an abortion “go far beyond the right to choose” as she hosted a conversation with four women, including a Texas doctor, who shared emotional stories of being denied necessary reproductive care. The first lady invited the women from Texas, Florida and Louisiana to the White House to help highlight the anniversary Saturday of the Supreme Court decision overturning its 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to an abortion.The ruling last June left it up to individual states to set their own abortion policies, and 18 of them — including the home states of Biden’s guests — have put abortion bans in place.“The consequences of these bans go far beyond the right to choose,” the first lady told the women, as she detailed examples of women being denied access to medication or are being forced to go to other states for care. And some doctors,...

Charges are dropped against 2 hospital employees in psychiatric patient’s death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:45 GMT

DINWIDDIE, Va. (AP) — Prosecutors on Tuesday dropped criminal charges against two hospital employees in the death of a man who was pinned to the floor while being admitted to a Virginia psychiatric hospital.Seven Henrico County Sheriff’s deputies and three Central State Hospital employees were charged with second-degree murder in the March 6 death of 28-year-old Irvo Otieno. Hospital video captured them trying to restrain Otieno while he was in handcuffs and leg shackles.But on Tuesday, Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill said dropping the charges against two hospital employees — Darian Blackwell and Sadarius Williams — would “serve justice more than any other course of action would,” the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.“The decision to withdraw the charges was heavy, but it was not difficult,” Baskervill said in an email. “I believe this places the prosecution of Irvo Otieno’s homicide in the strongest possible position upon my departure.”Baskervil...

Abortion rights groups drop suit challenging Kentucky’s ban but continue legal fight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:45 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Abortion-rights groups filed a court motion Tuesday to dismiss their lawsuit challenging Kentucky’s near-total abortion ban but signaled that the legal fight is far from over.The groups’ strategy will focus on the next legal challenge expected to come from pregnant women who were denied abortion services in Kentucky.“We will be back in court when we have a patient plaintiff,” Tamarra Wieder, Kentucky state director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, said in a statement.The current suit was filed by attorneys for the only two abortion clinics left in Kentucky when the state’s ban on the procedure took effect following the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.The plaintiffs in the Kentucky suit failed to get abortion access restored in a February ruling by Kentucky’s Supreme Court that focused on narrow legal issues. The justices didn’t resolve larger constitutional questions about whether access to abort...

8 people charged in death of mentally ill Michigan prison inmate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:45 GMT

Eight people were charged Tuesday in the death of a Michigan prison inmate who lost 50 pounds over two weeks and died of dehydration while being restrained in 2019.The death of Jonathan Lancaster at the Alger prison in the Upper Peninsula was a “preventable tragedy that played out over days,” Attorney General Dana Nessel said.Two prison officials at the time, Scott Sprader and Benny Mercier, and four nurses were charged with involuntary manslaughter, following an investigation by state police. Two prison officers face charges of misconduct.Lancaster, 38, was in prison for robbery and gun crimes in the Detroit area. He had a history of mental illness and showed symptoms while at Alger, including paranoia, anxiety, loss of appetite and insomnia, according to a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by his sister.Lancaster was in restraints in a special cell when he died.He “received no emergency medical attention until after his death,” despite excessive weight loss and the prison’s knowl...

Community meeting to be held as city considers Gage Park Fieldhouse as migrant shelter site

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:45 GMT

CHICAGO -- Residents in Chicago's Gage Park neighborhood will get their chance to speak out on Tuesday over plans to use the fieldhouse as a temporary migrant shelter.About 300 single men, who are currently living at different police stations across the city, are expected to move to the Gage Park Fieldhouse as early as Saturday, July 1.On Tuesday, neighbors will be able to ask questions at the St. Clare De Montefalco Catholic Chapel in Gage Park on their concerns about the city's plan to house hundreds of migrants at the local field house. Gage Park Fieldhouse expected to house over 300 migrants While Gage Park's campus will stay open to the public and accessible for general use, the field house will be converted into a respite center.Improvements to the Gage Park Fieldhouse, including a dining hall, two separate shower rooms, activity rooms and other spaces for health, cultural and educational usage.15th Ward Alderman Raymond Lopez said he volunteered this building because it's l...

Officer shortage a cause of concern for interim CPD boss amid crime spike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:45 GMT

CHICAGO — Fred Waller, Chicago’s interim police superintendent, visited a new trauma center at the old Carter G. Woodson School in North Kenwood on Tuesday and discussed efforts the city is implementing to combat crime.Waller, the third person to lead CPD in less than six months, the fifth in the last four years, has been tasked with implementing the new Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson's anti-crime strategy.But Waller admits he needs more officers. ‘I knew what I was inheriting,’ says Mayor Johnson after another violent weekend in Chicago "I’m never gonna say we can’t use more manpower, more resources," Waller said. "We’re really working our officers to a nub. We’re canceling days off all the time." As the city floods the streets with peace ambassadors, CPD is trying to strike the right balance between securing the city during daytime hours and at night. "We plan for things happening more in the evening," Waller added. "We do have officers out in the daytime also, of cours...

Skilling: Clear Tuesday night before sunshine returns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:45 GMT

It was another warm sunny day Tuesday—with easterly lake breezes which produced another day of widely varied temps from the lakefront, cooled by those winds and the 63-deg lake waters, and near 90-deg temps inland at Oswego with a 92-reported at McHenry. At the same time, lakeshore air temps only made it to 67 at Lake Forest, Waukegan Harbor and 68 at Calumet Harbor and Burns Harbor, IN with a 72-deg high in Evanston and Gary, IN. The buoy at Wilmette Harbor registered a 65-deg high.O'Hare's high hit 83-deg which is close to the normal high of 83.A blocking pattern in the atmosphere means we've sat in the same air mass for a week—and it's grown polluted. Not only was there some Canadian wildfire smoke, but ozone and particulates were elevated because winds are so light through the atmosphere. They've been unable to mix in cleaner air.AS A RESULT—THE ILLINOIS EPA has issued an AIR QUALITY ALERT through midnight Wed night.ON TOP OF THAT, the MOLD COUNT REACHED"HIGH" TUESDAY as did GRA...

Taylor Swift concerts help CTA post highest ridership since COVID-19 pandemic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:45 GMT

CHICAGO — Ridership on the CTA has bounced back in a big way, thanks, in part, to the Swifties and their love for all things Taylor. On Tuesday, the agency announced ridership is now the highest it's been since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic."(CTA) provided 5.63 million rides for the week of June 4-10," media relations said of ridership — its highest level in three years.   Taylor Swift concerts led to record number of hotel bookings in Chicago The CTA credits the jump to the three days of Taylor Swift concerts at Soldier Field (June2-4), the return of Chicago's summer festivals, and ongoing construction on the Kennedy Expressway. Once Swift's Chicago concert dates wrapped, locals still sought the CTA for summer festivals such as Midsommarfest in Andersonville, the Chicago Blues Fest in Millennium Park and the Old Town Art Fair—garnering the highest Saturday ridership since the pandemic, media relations added. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlinesLastly, acco...