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Florida GOP passes 6-week abortion ban, DeSantis supports

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:10 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Republican-dominated Florida Legislature on Thursday approved a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, a proposal supported by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis as he prepares for an expected presidential run. DeSantis is expected to sign the bill into law. Florida currently prohibits abortions after 15 weeks.A six-week ban would give DeSantis a key political victory among Republican primary voters as he prepares to launch a presidential candidacy built on his national brand as a conservative standard bearer. The policy would also have wider implications for abortion access throughout the South in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year overturning Roe v. Wade and leaving decisions about abortion access to states. Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy, while Georgia forbids the procedure after cardiac activity can be detected, which is around six weeks. Democrats and abortion-rights groups sa...

Mother of young boy who shot teacher arrested in Virginia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:10 GMT

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — The mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot and wounded his teacher in Virginia has been formally arrested on charges of child neglect and failing to secure her handgun, police announced Thursday. The Newport News Police Department released a booking photo of the woman, 25, and a brief statement that said she turned herself in at the local jail. Police did not release any information regarding bail or whether she was incarcerated. The Associated Press isn’t naming the mother to shield the identity of her son.Authorities had announced Monday that she was being charged with felony child neglect and a misdemeanor charge of endangering a child by reckless storage of a firearm. Her attorney had said that she planned to turn herself in later this week. He did not return a phone call and email requesting comment on Thursday. The woman’s arrest comes more than three months after police say her son shot and wounded first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner as she sat at a r...

Grizzlies guard Ja Morant files countersuit against teen

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:10 GMT

Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant has filed a countersuit against the Memphis teenager suing the two-time All-Star, accusing the teen of slander, battery and assault over a pickup basketball game at Morant’s home last July.The lawsuit filed Wednesday night in Shelby County Circuit Court accuses Joshua Holloway, whose lawsuit was amended March 28 after he turned 18, of damaging Morant’s reputation and putting him at risk of losing millions of dollars both in his contract and in potential endorsement deals.Morant declined to comment Thursday when asked about his countersuit after practice. The Grizzlies are the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference preparing to host LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers starting Sunday.The guard signed a five-year, $193 million contract last July that includes a $38 million bonus for making the All-NBA team this season. The NBA suspended Morant eight games in March for “conduct detrimental to the league” for displaying a firearm at a suburb...

25 Europe-bound migrants dead in boat sinking off Tunisia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:10 GMT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — At least 25 African migrants died and 15 are missing after a boat carrying them toward Europe sank in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Tunisia this week, Tunisian authorities said.The Tunisian coast guard on Thursday recovered the bodies of 15 people trapped under the boat near the coast of Sfax, a port in east-central Tunisia, Sfax Prosecutor Faouzi Masmoudi told the Associated Press.On Wednesday, the coast guard recovered 10 other bodies and rescued 72 migrants from the sunken vessel he said. The prosecutor estimated that 15 to 20 others who had been on the boat are still missing, based on survivors’ accounts.Nearly all those who died or were rescued were from sub-Saharan Africa, Masmoudi said.Attempts at illegal migration have increased in recent weeks from the Tunisian coast towards the nearby Italian coast, leaving dozens dead and many missing. The central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migration route in the world, according to the Intern...

Blind Indiana veteran climbing world's tallest mountain

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:10 GMT

Dugger, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – Climbing the world's tallest mountain is a steep goal, but climbing it when you are blind is an even rockier challenge."I'm a little nervous, but I'm truly trying to stay as emotionally neutral as I can," said Lonnie Bedwell, of Wabash Valley, Indiana. This adventurer is quite familiar with controlling his nerves. He has kayaked the rapids of the Colorado River. And even climbed Mount Denali, the highest peak in the U.S. Surfer fights off shark that took his foot: ‘I was trying to go for the eyes’ But even though Bedwell, who lost his sight in a hunting accident in 1997, likes to push his limits, climbing Mount Everest was never really on his radar."I truly didn't have a desire to do it to begin with," said Bedwell, laughing.Bedwell's climbing Mount Denali in June 2022. (Photo Courtesy Alex Johnson, Erin Johnston and "Sightless Summits" team)But then, he received two phone calls: One from another climber and the other from the Blind Veterans Association...

Surfer in Hawaii fights off shark that took his foot: 'I was trying to go for the eyes'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:10 GMT

HONOLULU (KHON) – Mike Morita said he's grateful to be alive after losing his foot in a shark attack while surfing with friends in Honolulu.Morita, 58, was bitten by the shark just before 7 a.m. Sunday morning, Honolulu Emergency Medical Services said. He had been surfing off the Kewalo Basin, an area said to be an unusual spot for shark attacks, according to marine life experts.Morita said he and his friends were catching small waves in the clear waters that morning. Just before he was attacked, he was lying on his board, waiting for the waves to come in."It wasn't really like a chomp. It was just pressure," Morita said. "I can feel the strength of it and right away I knew it was a shark." ‘It felt very surreal’: Florida surfer ‘having nightmares’ after shark attack Morita's friends told him the shark pulled him underwater, and was shaking him back and forth. The 58-year-old says he tried punching the shark, but didn't have much success. So he wound up wrapping his arms and legs ...

Authorities arrest man in connection to 'deliberate' Pentagon leak

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:10 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) – Days after leaked Pentagon documents became widespread on Twitter, authorities have taken one man into custody in connection with the leak.The Justice Department confirms a member of the U.S. Airforce National Guard was arrested.“Today the Justice Department arrested Jack Douglas Teixeira in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal retention and transmission of classified national defense information," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said.While the Justice Department is leading the ongoing investigation, the Pentagon says it is taking the issue seriously and is reviewing who can access certain classified information.“It is important to understand that we do have stringent guidelines in place for safeguarding classified and sensitive information,” Pentagon Press Secretary Airforce Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said.The Pentagon says the process includes the need to obtain security clearances and the signing of non-disclosure agreements.“A...

DFL weighs new tax bracket for top-earning Minnesotans

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:10 GMT

As Minnesota lawmakers piece together a tax bill, a new higher tax bracket is on the table for the state’s highest earners.It’s a move supporters say will bring needed ongoing funding for state programs, but opponents argue it could hurt business growth and push high earners out of the state.The House Taxes Committee is considering a fifth new tax bracket that would create a 10.85% tax for individual filers making more than $600,000 a year. The earning level for joint filers would be $1 million. It would go into effect for the 2023 tax year.Bill sponsor Rep. Kaohly Vang Her, DFL-St. Paul, who has carried a similar proposal in the past, told the tax committee this week that while Minnesota has a historic $17.5 billion budget surplus, much of that is one-time cash and the new bracket would be necessary for creating ongoing revenue for the state.“From our farmers to our families in the city … in order for us to provide the resources they need to have good quality of life we do need to ...

South Carolina-based Zeus bringing 100 jobs to new Arden Hills catheter design, manufacturing plant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:10 GMT

Zeus, a South Carolina-based polymer company intent on growing its medical technology division, is expanding to Arden Hills with a boost from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development’s Job Creation Fund.The goal is to both invent and produce state-of-the-art vascular catheters in a redeveloped manufacturing facility slated to open its doors this summer. The Red Fox Road facility, custom-retrofit and spanning nearly 76,000 square feet, will include a research and design space and cleanroom aimed at designing, developing and testing new catheter prototypes.Over the course of several years, the site is expected to employ more than 100 engineers, project managers, technicians and product builders, according to Zeus officials.Founded 57 years ago, the company until now has been better known for its work with fiber optic cables, engineered plastics for the automotive industry and insulated wires used for the oil and energy industries. Zeus acquired CathX Medic...

Heidi Firkus murder: Evidence from husband’s trial made public

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:10 GMT

When Nicholas Firkus went on trial this year for the 2010 killing of his wife in St. Paul, jurors and people in the courtroom saw and heard evidence that had never before been made public.That included audio of the couple’s 911 calls, video of the only time Nicholas Firkus talked to an investigator and testing that police did at the Firkus home.A jury convicted Firkus in February of premediated murder in the shooting of Heidi Firkus, 25. He told police an intruder broke into their home, he armed himself with a shotgun, and he and the stranger struggled. He said the shotgun went off twice, fatally shooting Heidi in the back and grazing him in the thigh.RELATED: Nicholas Firkus gets life sentence for wife Heidi’s murder he blamed on intruder. ALSO: How Nicholas Firkus jurors decided in hours that he killed Heidi.Prosecutors told jurors that Firkus staged the break-in because he hadn’t told Heidi their home had been foreclosed on and there were going to be evicted the next ...