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NHL issues updated theme night guidance, which includes a ban on players using Pride tape on the ice

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:36 GMT

The NHL sent a memo to teams last week clarifying what players can and cannot do as part of theme celebrations this season, including a ban on the use of rainbow-coloured stick tape for the Pride nights that have become a hot-button issue in hockey.The updated guidance reaffirms on-ice player uniforms and gear for games, warm-ups and official team practices cannot be altered to reflect theme nights, including Pride, Hockey Fights Cancer or military appreciation celebrations. Players can voluntarily participate in themed celebrations off the ice.Deputy NHL Commissioner Bill Daly confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday, a few hours before the season opened with a trio of games, that the league sent the updated memo, which was first reported by ESPN.The You Can Play Project, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ+ participation in sports and has partnered with the NHL for the past decade, ripped the league by saying, “If Hockey is for Everyone, this is not the way forward.”“It i...

North Carolina Democrat kicks off gubernatorial campaign tour alongside governor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:36 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein pitched himself Tuesday as a champion for the state’s most vulnerable residents in the face of policies that he said have threatened women’s reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ safety and health care access.“Our home is under assault,” Stein said. “Right-wing politicians are taking a sledgehammer to its foundation.”The Democrat kicked off his statewide campaign tour Tuesday at Shaw University, a private Baptist historically Black university in Raleigh, nine months after he entered the race. The sitting attorney general was introduced to a small crowd of supporters by the man he hopes to succeed, with few students in attendance. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is barred from seeking a third consecutive term in 2024 and has already endorsed Stein. He reassured voters Tuesday that Stein would not kowtow to the Republican-controlled General Assembly. “North Carolina has been a better place because Josh Stein has been...

Disappearance of 3 seniors with dementia renews calls for vulnerable persons alerts in Ontario

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:36 GMT

After the disappearance of three seniors in the last two weeks, including one with a tragic conclusion, calls for a “silver alert” to be implemented across the province have been renewed.A search is currently ongoing for a missing 73-year-old, Desmond who was last seen October 6 near his home. Desmond lives with dementia and Parkinson’s disease and police have described the search as “urgent.”Earlier this week, 68-year-old Norman, who has dementia. was found alive after going missing for three days and sadly, 76-year-old Tulip was found dead in a wooded area of Midtown following a week-long search.NDP MPP Monique Taylor said these recent disappearances have made the bill she introduced earlier this year all the more important. Bill 74 would address what she calls a gap in our current emergency alert system called the Vulnerable Persons Alert. A petition on her website currently has over 2,100 signatures.“These [vulnerable people] have dementia, th...

Biden interview in special counsel documents investigation suggests sprawling probe near conclusion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:36 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s interview with prosecutors over his handling of classified documents signals that a sprawling investigation that has included questioning of some of his closest aides and at least one cabinet member is nearing a conclusion.The White House revealed on Monday night that Biden was interviewed on Sunday and Monday by special counsel Robert Hur’s team, meaning that he was fielding questions from investigators during the same hours that his administration was consumed by the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. It’s a familiar dynamic for a president who over the last year has had to fulfill his duties as commander in chief while dealing with scrutiny over his own classified records retention and the legal problems of his recently indicted son, Hunter.Investigators typically save interviews of key players for the final days of an investigation, a sign that Hur’s nine-month-old probe is likely near the end. Because Hur is a Justi...

Deadly bird flu reappears in US commercial poultry flocks in Utah and South Dakota

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:36 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Highly pathogenic bird flu has made its first appearances in U.S. commercial poultry flocks this season, affecting one turkey farm in South Dakota and one in Utah.The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that avian influenza, which is deadly to commercial poultry, was confirmed in a flock of 47,300 turkeys in Jerauld County, South Dakota, on Oct. 4 and at a farm with 141,800 birds in Utah’s Sanpete County last Friday. The outbreaks are the first reported among commercial flocks in the U.S. since the disease struck two turkey farms in the Dakotas in April. Infected flocks are normally destroyed to prevent the flu’s spread, and then the farms are decontaminated. Before last week, the only reports of bird flu in recent months in the U.S. in recent months were sporadic appearances in backyard flocks or among wild birds such as ducks, geese and eagles. While wild birds often show no symptoms of avian influenza, infections in them are a concern to the pou...

Biden confirms Americans among hostages captured in Israel, condemns ‘sheer evil’ of Hamas militants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:36 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday confirmed that U.S. citizens are among the hostages captured by Hamas in this weekend’s attack on Israel and he condemned the militant group for “sheer evil” for its shocking multipronged attack on Israel launched from the Gaza Strip that has killed hundreds of civilians, including at least 14 American citizens.Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone earlier on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the situation on the ground. Biden outlined the actions he and other allies have taken to support Israel in the aftermath of the attack and expressed his horror about “sickening” reports of torture inflicted by militants on innocent civilians.“Our hearts may be broken but our resolve is clear,” said Biden, who compared Hamas action to the terrorist group ISIS. He added, “Let there be no doubt. The United States has Israel’s back. We’ll make sure the Jewish and democratic state of Israel can defend i...

Atlanta police chief fires officer after traffic stop led to Black deacon’s death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:36 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta’s police chief on Tuesday fired an officer who shocked a 62-year-old Black church deacon with a stun gun during a dispute over a traffic ticket, leading to the man’s death.Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said Officer Kiran Kimbrough didn’t follow department procedures Aug. 10 when he didn’t wait until a supervisor arrived to arrest Johnny Hollman Sr. The chief said he decided to fire Kimbrough after an internal investigation concluded Monday.“Part of my job is to assess, evaluate, and adjust how this police department is carrying out its sworn mission to serve and protect the citizens of this city,” Schierbaum said in a statement. “I understand the difficult and dangerous job that our officers do each and every day throughout the city. I do not arrive at these decisions lightly.”Schierbaum’s decision comes days before video that Kimbrough’s body camera recorded of his interactions with Hollman could be released. Ma...

Fraud trial: Trump acknowledged penthouse size at 11,000 square feet, not 30,000 he later claimed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:36 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump signed a document 30 years ago that gave the true size of his New York penthouse that was later listed as far larger on his financial statements, according to evidence shown Tuesday at the former president’s civil business fraud trial.The evidence appeared in an email attachment shown as Allen Weisselberg, the former finance chief of Trump’s company, testified in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ fraud lawsuit against Trump and his Trump Organization. Trump denies any wrongdoing.The attachment was a 1994 document, signed by Trump, that pegged his Trump Tower triplex at 10,996 square feet — not the 30,000 square feet later claimed for years on financial statements that were given to banks, insurers and others to make deals and secure loans. Weisselberg said he recalled seeing the email but not the attachment, explaining that the attachments were documents he already had on file in the company’s offices. But in any event, he said, he did...

Ontario man charged in past sexual assault wanted for 2nd-degree murder

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:36 GMT

An Ontario man charged with a prior violent sexual assault is wanted Canada-wide for second-degree murder in a fatal arson investigation from March.The fire broke out at an address on Court Street, in the area of Olive Avenue and Simcoe Street in Oshawa, just before 10 a.m. March 6, 2023.When officers arrived at the address, officials informed them that one person was found deceased. The man’s death was ruled a homicide, and the victim was identified as Amaar Jawaid.On Tuesday, police said 37-year-old Josh Bickle of Tweed, Ont., is wanted for second-degree murder in Jawaid’s death.Durham Police have identified a homicide victim who was found dead in an Oshawa house fire on March 6, 2023. CITYNEWS/Rob Ramlackhan.Authorities said Bickle was facing charges in a violent sexual assault and was required to wear an ankle monitoring bracelet.Investigators have evidence that the accused removed the bracelet and are appealing to the public for assistance in locating him.Police sai...

'So grateful': Ohio family elated after reuniting with trucker's dog in Romeoville viral video

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:36 GMT

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. — A family in Ohio is exhilarated to have their dog back thanks to a viral video, but hope was admittedly dwindling.On the night of Sept. 27, Deb Liden, whose passion is helping and finding lost pets, received a call from Romeoville Animal Control.They were having a tough time getting a cute American Pit Bull, with one dark eye and one blue eye, inside.Liden was helping another dog in Oswego, so her friends Jill Boland and Brian James were able to lay in the grass for hours to loop the dog, later identified as King, for intake.Earlier, when Boland arrived, King was howling and wouldn't leave a particular spot in a parking lot near the 1200 block of Normantown Road."We knew he was not a dump and obviously a trucker's dog," Liden told WGN News.Boland was able to take heartbreaking footage of King howling, waiting for his owner, truck driver Brandon Weh, to return. They also contacted nearby businesses, which showed surveillance footage of King looking for Weh."At one ...