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US to send $200 million in military aid to Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon will provide Ukraine with $200 million in weapons and ammunition to help sustain Kyiv’s counteroffensive as troops on the front lines face significant hurdles against a well-entrenched Russian defense, according to two U.S. officials. This latest package will include missiles for the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and the Patriot air defense system, munitions for howitzers and tanks, Javelin rockets, mine-clearing equipment, 12 million rounds of small arms ammunition and demolition munitions, said a U.S. official. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the aid has not yet been publicly announced.The aid comes as the U.S. funding for Ukraine is nearly all spent and the Biden administration is expected to request a new package of supplemental aid from Congress to continue that support. Ukraine has already received more than $43 billion from the U.S. since Russia invaded last year. Those funds have provided weapons systems l...

Person shot and wounded by South Dakota trooper in Sturgis, authorities say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

STURGIS, S.D. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the shooting of a person by a South Dakota Highway Patrol trooper at a convenience store Wednesday in Sturgis, where a big annual motorcycle rally is underway.Sturgis Police Chief Geody VanDewater issued a brief statement confirming that one person was shot and wounded by a trooper, and said more information would be released later, the Black Hills Pioneer reported.“We’re not releasing details at this time other than all the officers are safe and there is no threat to public safety,” he said at his daily briefing.The Sturgis Police Department said the shooting happened around 10 a.m. Wednesday at a gas station just off Interstate 90. There was no immediate word on the condition of the person who was shot or what led to the shooting.Initial statements from authorities did not say whether the incident might be linked to the 10-day Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which draws hundreds of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts to the Black Hills ...

Shooting after Hezbollah truck overturns near Lebanese capital leaves 2 people dead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

A truck belonging to the militant Hezbollah group overturned on a mountain road near the Lebanese capital Wednesday and was followed by a shooting that left two people dead, security officials and Hezbollah said. Lebanese troops immediately cordoned off the truck filled with large boxes in the Christian town of Kahaleh on the highway that links Beirut to the eastern Bekaa Valley.The highway is believed to be used by Hezbollah to bring weapons from eastern Lebanon and Syria to its headquarters south of Beirut.A statement issued by Kahaleh residents said one resident was killed when armed men opened fire. The statement included no additional details but the residents vowed to keep the vital highway closed as a kind of protest.Hezbollah said in a terse statement that the truck belonged to the group without saying whether it had weapons inside it. It said local gunmen attacked people in the truck leading to an exchange of fire that wounded one Hezbollah member “who was protecting the tr...

Opponents of Maine’s new abortion law won’t seek to nullify it through a referendum

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Groups opposed to Maine’s new law expanding abortion access won’t attempt to nullify the statute through a so-called People’s Veto referendum.Republican Rep. Laurel Libby, leader of the Speak Up for LIFE group, said Wednesday that allies decided that the costs of collecting signatures and running a campaign represented too big of a hurdle. Instead, the groups intend to focus on electing candidates who are opposed to abortions.“At the end of the day, we want to put our effort into the most effect place possible,” Libby, a Republican from Auburn, told The Associated Press. That means flipping legislative seats, she said, particularly in the Maine House.The bill signed into law by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills last month allows abortions at any time if deemed medically necessary by a doctor, making the law one of the nation’s least restrictive. The previous law, the Reproductive Privacy Act of 1993, banned abortions after a fetus became viable out...

Northwestern athletic director blasts football staffers for ‘tone deaf’ shirts supporting Fitzgerald

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Northwestern athletic director Derrick Gragg criticized assistant football coaches and staff members for wearing shirts supporting fired coach Pat Fitzgerald at practice Wednesday, calling them “inappropriate, offensive and tone deaf” given the hazing and abuse scandal engulfing the program and other teams.“Let me be crystal clear,” he said in a statement. “Hazing has no place at Northwestern, and we are committed to do whatever is necessary to address hazing-related issues, including thoroughly investigating any incidents or allegations of hazing or any misconduct.”Gragg said he and the university were unaware that staffers owned the black shirts with “ Cats Against the World ” and Fitzgerald’s old number “51” in purple type or would wear them at practice. He issued the statement after interim coach David Braun called it a free speech issue and said his focus was on supporting his players and staff rather than whether the shirts were tone deaf.Three players ex...

Census workers logged hundreds of cases of violence, harassment by public: documents

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada documents show workers who went door-to-door to collect data for the 2021 census logged hundreds of workplace injuries and at least 15 assaults by members of the public.The data tables obtained by The Canadian Press through access-to-information law list 680 injury reports, including more than 280 cases of harassment or violence. In some of the most extreme examples, employees were punched, threatened with firearms, spat on or sexually assaulted.In one case, a census interviewer was assaulted by a resident using a “pellet gun,” while another had a “gun pointed at her from another vehicle,” the documents say.One worker was knocked down stairs after being punched in the face by a resident, and had to go to the hospital.Another census employee was unwillingly detained in the home of an angry resident, the documents say. The event was reported to the RCMP.In at least three separate instances, people collecting data for Statistics Canada...

Shot fired at SWAT teams in Austin as they investigate armed robbery case; suspect barricaded inside

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

CHICAGO — FBI and Chicago SWAT teams have been focused on a home Wednesday in Chicago's Austin neighborhood.Their attention has been focused on a home in the 5400 block of West Walton Street. 4 dead, including suspected ‘aggressor,’ after shooting inside home in Crystal Lake: police It all started just before 7 a.m.A law enforcement source said members of the violent crimes task force served a warrant at a tri-level apartment building in connection with an armed robbery investigation.The task force is made up of members of the FBI, Chicago Police Department, Illinois State Police and the Cook County Sheriff's Office. Niles introduces feral cat program for rat control When officers made contact with the suspect, a shot was fired in their direction. No one was hurt and no one returned fire.The man then barricaded himself inside where he has been ever since.As of 4 p.m., the situation is still ongoing.

Chicago's first para archery tournament shows off skills, heart

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

CHICAGO — The the sport of archery requires precision, strength and accuracy. But even more...it demands heart.  Something every athletes brought at this week’s when Chicago hosted its first ever para archery competition Behind the Bow.Para athletes from more than 10 countries descended on the city’s Dunbar Park Field.Paralyzed from the chest down, Andre Shelby has been shooting for nearly a decade and won gold at the Paralympics in both Rio and Toronto.  More from Erin: Camp provides Chicago kids refuge from violence, stress "It's almost like a rehab, a continuous rehab because you're constantly learning," Shelby said. "It just gives you a drive and sense of worth almost."The event is what he and everyone else on the line needs to qualify for Paris next summer.Keira Cromwell, a 17-year-old from Indiana, was inspired by another girl with a bow."My love of archery actually began when the movie ‘Brave’ came out, the Disney movie,” she said. “I saw it in theater and I ...

MedWatch Daily Digest: The dangers of thirdhand smoke — and more

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

For Wednesday, Aug. 9, WGN’s Dina Bair has new medical information, including: More Coverage: WGN's Medical Watch Experts warn of danger of thirdhand smoke In rooms where people smoke regularly, tobacco and nicotine linger long after the cigarette goes out. The Department of Energy's Berkeley Lab warns it results in toxic indoor pollutants  Chemicals from the surface of the contaminated surfaces rise back into the air and are inhaled damaging the lungs. Men and women respond differently to stressMen and women respond differently to stress biologically. Chronic stress alters the brain cells of males and females in unique ways. Weizmann Institute of Science researchers say the finding opens the door for personalized therapy for depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders like obesity and diabetes. Mental and physical disorders caused by chronic stress affect men and women, but experts say only by studying the individual manifestation can we arrive at effective, lasting th...

Former Ravinia Festival employee charged with forging checks, stealing over $110K

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

CHICAGO — A Lake County woman is charged with theft and forgery for allegedly stealing more than $110,000 from the Ravinia Festival Association when she was an employee, according to the Attorney General’s office. Michelle Bringham, 39, of  Glenview, faces up to 20 years in prison. The Attorney General's Office noted that Bringham worked as an accounting coordinator with the Ravinia Festival Association, a nonprofit that operates the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park. ‘Protect our carriers’: Chicago postal workers call for end to violent attacks According to Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Bringham wrote checks to a fake vendor to steal funds from the nonprofit. Prosecutors allege that Bringham also allegedly used another employee’s signature stamp on checks without the employee’s permission.“It is unacceptable for an employee to abuse their position as a fiscal officer to forge checks and steal from a nonprofit organization,” Raoul said in a release announcing the charges. “I want ...