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AP News in Brief at 9:09 p.m. EDT

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:20:19 GMT

Prize-winning AP team served as world’s eyes in MariupolNEW YORK (AP) — Instincts about the strategic significance of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol led a team of Associated Press journalists there just as Russians were about to lay siege. It proved to be a fateful decision.For nearly three weeks last year, Mstyslav Chernov, Evgeniy Maloletka and Vasilisa Stepanenko were the only journalists in Mariupol, serving as the world’s eyes and ears amid the horrors of the Russian onslaught.Together they helped expose the extent of the suffering Ukrainians endured, served as a counterweight to Russian disinformation and contributed to the opening of a humanitarian corridor out of Mariupol. They also had to elude capture by Kremlin forces that were hunting for the team.On Monday, Pulitzer Prize judges cited the work of the three Ukrainian journalists, along with Paris-based Lori Hinnant, in giving The Associated Press the prestigious award for public service.Seven AP photogra...

‘Persona non grata’: Canada expelling Chinese diplomat after threats to Tory MP

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:20:19 GMT

OTTAWA — The Liberal government moved Monday to expel Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei, who Canada’s spy agency alleged was involved in a plot to intimidate Conservative MP Michael Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong.Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly wrote in a statement Monday that Canada has declared the Toronto-based diplomat as “persona non grata.”“We will not tolerate any form of foreign interference in our internal affairs,” she wrote.“Diplomats in Canada have been warned that if they engage in this type of behaviour, they will be sent home.”Joly’s statement came just as MPs were voting in favour of a Conservative motion calling for certain diplomats to be expelled and for the government to call a public inquiry into foreign interference.Calls for Zhao to be expelled began last week after a report in the Globe and Mail that CSIS had information in 2021 that the Chinese government was looking at ways to intimidate Chong and his rela...

Anti-abortion group aligns with Trump, weeks after criticism

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:20:19 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — The leader of a major anti-abortion group aligned herself Monday with former President Donald Trump on the issue, just weeks after raising questions about his commitment to restricting access to the procedure.Calling her meeting Monday with Trump “terrific,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America group, said in a statement that he “reiterated that any federal legislation protecting these children would need to include the exceptions for life of the mother and in cases of rape and incest.” The characterization of the meeting — which Dannenfelser’s group said happened at Trump’s Florida home — marked a turnaround from more than two weeks ago. Then, Dannenfelser called Trump’s contention that abortion restrictions should be left up to individual states, not the federal government, a “morally indefensible position for a self-proclaimed pro-life presidential candidate.” Dannenfelser’s group has said it would not su...

Driver accused of deadly Texas bus stop crash has extensive criminal history

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:20:19 GMT

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (KVEO) — The Brownsville, Texas man accused of ramming into a group of 18 people, killing eight and injuring nearly a dozen, has an extensive criminal history.George Alvarez, 34, was arrested on eight counts of manslaughter and 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, Brownsville police announced at a news conference on Monday. Police name suspect accused of hitting 18 at Texas bus stop, killing 8 At the conference, police showed Alvarez’s previous arrests, which included:2 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon1 count of assault against elderly or disabled4 counts of assault causing bodily injury to a family member1 count of assault of a public servant2 counts of burglary of a vehicle1 count of assault causing bodily injury2 counts of criminal mischief1 count of driving while intoxicated1 count of evading arrest/detention1 count of interference with public duties1 count of obstruction or retaliation1 count of possession of marijuana3 cou...

First trooper-involved shooting in Central TX since DPS started increased patrols in Austin

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:20:19 GMT

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) -- Texas Department of Public Safety troopers shot and killed a man after the agency said he fired at troopers first.According to a statement from DPS, they tried to pull him over on U.S. Highway 183 in Austin just before 10 p.m. Sunday. As the man drove up through Williamson County, he fired shots as the troopers chasing him - and pointed his weapon at troopers when he eventually got out of the car. Where DPS is patrolling in Austin and why US 183 is one of the areas the Austin Police Department asked DPS to help patrol to curb dangerous driving as part of a partnership between the two agencies that launched March 30.DPS body camera video policyDPS and APD treat incidents like this differently when it comes to policies regarding releasing body camera video to the public.In Austin, police release that footage within 10 business days. Upon that release, the department also typically provides additional information about the investigation. You can access APD...

Thruway Authority looking for feedback on proposed toll hikes

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:20:19 GMT

CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WIVB) -- For roughly the next month, people across New York State will have the opportunity to weigh in on proposed toll hikes for the Thruway.The Thruway Authority has revealed plans to keep tolls on I-90 unchanged through the remainder of this year but bring them up starting in 2024. They say it would be the "first toll adjustment for system-wide NY E-ZPass customers since 2010." Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! "These are modust increases to help us maintain and operate and build on the thruway. It is modust increases compared to any other state in the Northeast," Frank Hoare, interim executive director of the New York State Thruway Authority, explained. "No tax dollars go toward supporting the thruway. It all comes from our toll revenue."Here's how they broke it down: System-wide toll rate adjustments would take place on January 1, 2024 and January 1, 2027. NY E-ZPass rates would increase by five perce...

Dean at Denver’s East High rushed to help his friend in a school office. Then he was shot.

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:20:19 GMT

Wayne Mason was stationed at the front desk of Denver’s East High School on March 22 when Austin Lyle walked into the building.The 17-year-old student, who required daily patdowns as part of his student safety plan, called for an assistant principal. Mason tried them on the radio. No answer.So Eric Sinclair, another school dean, escorted Lyle to Room 129, where he and Mason shared an office. Sinclair radioed the assistant principal again. No answer. He tried a school safety officer. No answer.His next call went to Mason.“Wayne. Wayne. Help me, help me!” Sinclair yelled into the radio.Mason, a retired probation officer and East’s restorative practice coordinator, for the first time Monday publicly detailed how he and Sinclair were shot inside an office at Denver’s largest high school while struggling to disarm a troubled student.The dean called out Denver Public Schools for safety policies that allowed Lyle to be searched by a single, untrained administr...

Sweeping land use proposal backed by Polis dies in last hours of legislative session

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:20:19 GMT

A first-in-decades effort to rewrite the state land use code died Monday in the final hours of the legislative session, ending a weeks-long saga that split the Capitols’ Democratic lawmakers.The proposal had gone through a series of rewrites since it was introduced with much fanfare by Gov. Jared Polis in March. It had essentially been split into two different versions that the Democrat-controlled Senate and House of Representatives couldn’t reconcile by the constitutionally mandated end of the session.“Democratic senators are supposed to know better,” said Rep. Steven Woodrow, a Denver Democrat and the bill’s co-sponsor. “Today, they fell unfortunately short.”The Senate had stripped the bill — which initially legalized accessory-dwelling units and reshaped single-family zoning across the state — to a series of housing studies statewide. The House then rewrote large portions of the bill, reinserting some upzoning and the limited ...

Denver limits who can stay in emergency shelters as migrants arrive in growing numbers

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:20:19 GMT

More migrants and asylum seekers are again arriving in Denver and city officials are restricting who can stay in shelters as they expect that trend to continue.Title 42, a COVID-era public health measure that allowed border patrol to expel hundreds of thousands of people to Mexico or their home countries, expires Thursday. That means more people will likely be seeking asylum in the U.S. when they reach the border, a process that is legal but was blocked under Title 42.In anticipation of an uptick in the number of people seeking a temporary place to stay in Denver over the coming months, the city has restricted its emergency shelters — if there is capacity — only to migrants who have what’s referred to as an “A-Number,” or an “Alien Registration Number.” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services assigns these numbers to most noncitizens who apply to live in the country permanently.City officials say the restriction is in line with updated fed...

Driver arrested after damaging several cars in Woodland Hills road-rage incident (video)

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:20:19 GMT

A Mustang driver involved in a road-rage incident was caught on video last week crashing into several vehicles in Woodland Hills. The incident occurred Wednesday, May 3, around 1:30 p.m. on Ventura Boulevard.Security video shared exclusively with KTLA by John Crawford shows the blue Mustang rear-ending an SUV while waiting at a stop light. The driver then backs up into a pickup as the SUV driver gets out of her vehicle and while apparently trying to get away, the Mustang driver also crashes into a box truck in another lane.The driver then puts the car in reverse again, goes over the median from westbound to eastbound lanes and smashes into a Porsche going in the other direction, the video shows.The driver eventually pulls forward and once again rams into the SUV, pushing the vehicle forward several feet. Crawford and witnesses said the Mustang driver was causing issues on the road miles away, beginning on Victory Boulevard and Fallbrook Avenue.“It was very disturbing and it just got...