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Doug Ford shoots down Scarpitti plan to consolidate York Region into one

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:21 GMT

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has roundly rebuffed calls from the mayor of Markham to consolidate the 10 municipal governments of York Region into one city.Mayor Frank Scarpitti has argued that the move would bring significant savings and streamline governance.Scarpitti notes that the province recently passed a law to break up the upper-tier municipality of Peel Region, so he says there is no rationale to maintain the status quo in York Region.Ford shot down those suggestions, saying Scarpitti is the only one of the York Region mayors who wants that to happen.“It’s not about one mayor to go out there and want to build your empire, this is about all the seven different cities,” Ford said during an unrelated announcement in Whitby on Thursday. “We listen to the people, we listen to all the mayors so we aren’t doing it.”The province is appointing facilitators to assess several regional governments, including York Region, and look at the best mix of roles...

Thursday's Illinois Lotto jackpot the biggest so far this year at $17.5M

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:21 GMT

Feeling lucky? You could kick off the summer with a cool, several million in your pocket if you win the next Illinois Lotto jackpot.Thursday night's drawing is now at a record $17.4 million, the biggest jackpot so far this year.Lotto is an Illinois-only game that is played three times a week on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. More: Recent news and headlines about the Illinois Lottery Lotto can be played for $2 per line, and tickets can be purchased in-store, online, or on the Illinois Lottery’s app.Good luck!

Jury awards $25.6 million to Starbucks manager fired after the arrests of 2 men

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:21 GMT

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — Jurors in federal court have awarded $25.6 million to a former Starbucks regional manager who alleged that she and other white employees were unfairly punished after the high-profile arrests of two Black men at a Philadelphia location in 2018.Shannon Phillips won $600,000 in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages on Monday after a jury in New Jersey found that race was a determinative factor in Phillips' firing, in violation of federal and state anti-discrimination.In April 2018, a Philadelphia store manager called police on two Black men who were sitting in the coffee shop without ordering anything. Phillips, then regional manager of operations in Philadelphia, southern New Jersey, and elsewhere, was not involved with arrests. However, she said she was ordered to put a white manager who also wasn't involved on administrative leave for reasons she knew were false, according to her lawsuit.Phillips said she was fired less than a month later after...

'Gone and done it': Mom 'superglues' eye shut after mixing up eye drops

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:21 GMT

**Related Video Above: Eye doctors share important lesson for students learning online -- give your eyes a break.**SANTA ROSA, Calif. (WJW) — A California mother has gone viral for accidentally putting nail glue in her eye, leading to a stop in the emergency room earlier this month. 2 ways recreational marijuana could soon be legal in Ohio In a TikTok video, which has about 4.8 million views (and does include adult language), Jennifer Eversole explained she confused her bottle of eye drops for a similar-looking bottle of nail glue, which she referred to as superglue."Well, I've gone and done it. I have won the most idiot person award," Eversole said in the video from the hospital on June 3. “My eye drops sit directly next to superglue and they’re the same size bottle and I wasn’t paying attention and now my eye’s glued shut.”Getty Images photoShe told viewers the pain was overwhelming and that she had to be taken to the emergency room via ambulance to get the doctors to pry it ope...

Atlanta songwriter, music entrepreneur who killed his girlfriend gets life in prison

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:21 GMT

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A songwriter and music industry entrepreneur from Atlanta has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing his girlfriend in Iowa.Justin Wright was found guilty of first-degree murder in April in the death of 20-year-old Wilanna Bibbs, and was sentenced Wednesday, the Quad-City Times reported.Wright, 34, also known as J Wright, founded Camp Entertainment Worldwide in 2011. His company worked with artists that included Bow Wow, Timbaland, Kash Doll and DJ Khalid, and he became a multi-platinum songwriter working with those acts. Kevin Spacey: I’ll get job offers ‘the moment I am cleared’ of sexual assault charges Bibbs, an aspiring singer from Durham, North Carolina, was shot to death on May 9, 2021, at a home in Davenport, Iowa. At the sentencing hearing, Bibbs' father, Thomas Bibbs, said Wright killed his daughter over $70. The two had been dating for a few months.Scott County Attorney Kelly Cunningham said Wright and Bibbs were i...

Trump extremely 'scared' by federal charges, ex-chief of staff says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:21 GMT

(The Hill) – John Kelly, the former White House chief of staff, said he believes former President Trump is panicking after being arraigned on federal charges related to his handling of classified materials on Tuesday.“He’s scared s---less,” Kelly told The Washington Post. “This is the way he compensates for that. He gives people the appearance he doesn’t care by doing this.” Trump pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Miami on Tuesday. After leaving the courthouse, Trump greeted supporters at a local restaurant and then returned to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, to deliver remarks to a cheering crowd.  Trump unloads on special counsel Jack Smith in speech hours after arraignment In his speech Tuesday evening, Trump unloaded on Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought the 37-count indictment against the former president, calling Smith a “deranged lunatic,” a “thug” and a “raging and uncontrolled Trump hater." “For the first time in his life, it looks like he’...

Community of 800+ new homes coming to Kyle

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:21 GMT

KYLE, Texas (KXAN) -- A community of 880 new homes is expected to come to Kyle by sometime next year. On Thursday, Landsea Homes Corporation is breaking ground on Freedom at Anthem. The homebuilder said this marks the beginning of construction on its first ground-up community in Texas. Details on the community: homes from 1,500 to 29,00 square feetoptions for three to five bedroomsamenity center includes a lap pool, pickleball, basketball court and playground areaonsite elementary school The grand opening is expected to be in 2024.'The construction jobs are very high'This is just one of many new projects in the area. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: ‘Explosive growth’: 20+ new restaurants, retail stores coming to Kyle CEO of Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area Paul Fletcher said while the construction sector is slowing down around the country, it isn't in Hays County. "We can see that it's in very high demand. As a percentage of total jobs, the construction jobs are very high, a high percen...

Free medical marijuana certifications at Austin Juneteenth Celebration

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:21 GMT

Editor’s Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for June 15, 2023.AUSTIN (KXAN) — During a celebration commemorating when Black Americans found out slavery had officially ended, a new sense of freedom will be tied to the events this year. That liberation is the opportunity to receive a free certification for medical marijuana. A company called Goodblend is partnering with Leafwell, to offer this to the first eligible 75 people who stop by its Mobile Medical Marijuana Bus at the Juneteenth Festival on Saturday. It said it's trying to support access to the medical plant for those who might not be aware it's an option."We're doing this event to help Texas residents offset the cost of medicine and introduce them to the Texas Medical Marijuana program," Gene Tallman, president of goodblend Texas said in a press release. "We understand that during these challenging financial times, every little bit helps, and we're hoping to help Texans achieve better health...

After an Austin employee gave birth to a stillborn baby, she was disqualified from parental leave. Now, city leaders want change.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:21 GMT

AUSTIN (The Texas Tribune) -- When Elena Andres held her stillborn daughter in her arms, she thought there was no way she could feel more devastated than she did at that moment.The 15-hour labor wrecked her body, and she was drowning in grief. Rather than enjoying the early hours of her daughter’s life, she was filling out a mountain of paperwork and figuring out funeral home logistics.When Andres notified her employer, Austin Public Health, that she’d be starting her planned maternity leave a little early, the response added insult to all that injury. She no longer qualified for the city’s eight-week paid parental leave, human resources told her.“I felt so small, like they were saying my pregnancy didn’t count,” Andres said. “Like my daughter didn’t count.”City of Austin employees can take eight weeks of paid parental leave after “the birth of a child or the placement of a child for adoption or foster care,” per the policy, and up to an additional four weeks unpaid under the federa...

Long-time St. Paul restaurants Alary’s and Fasika to close by the end of the week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:21 GMT

Two long-time St. Paul restaurants are closing before the end of the month.Fasika, which has been serving Ethiopian favorites for the past 22 years out of a storefront on Snelling Avenue, will close up shop after service on Saturday, June 17.The restaurant, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, posted simply on its social media pages that it would close and thanked customers.Ethiopian immigrants Atnafu Yeshidagne and Menderen Gebretsadik opened the restaurant in 2001, serving spongy injera bread and stewed vegetables and meats along with other East African favorites.And Alary’s, which has been operating in downtown St. Paul since 1949, will close after service on Sunday, June 18.Current owner Nick Peterson has sold the building, and the new owners will close Alary’s and rebrand it. The new owners are hoping to be up and running before the next Wild season starts.Stay tuned for information on who the next owners are and what the concept will be.Related ArticlesR...