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Ex-Trump aide testifies before federal grand jury in Florida investigation of Mar-a-Lago documents

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:31 GMT

By ERIC TUCKER (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — A former top aide to Donald Trump appeared Wednesday in federal court in Miami for testimony to a grand jury investigating potential classified-document mishandling and obstruction at the ex-president’s Palm Beach property, according to a person familiar with the matter.Taylor Budowich, who had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency and now runs a pro-Trump super PAC, confirmed his appearance on Twitter, writing: “Today, in what can only be described as a bogus and deeply troubling effort to use the power of government to ‘get’ Trump, I fulfilled a legal obligation to testify in front a federal grand jury and I answered every question honestly.”The Florida grand jury is separate from a panel that had been meeting for months in Washington as a part of a Justice Department special counsel investigation into Trump over the retention of hundreds of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and ...

Does a N95 mask work against smoke?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:31 GMT

Smoke that’s been blown southward from hundreds of Canadian wildfires are causing hazardous air-quality conditions across the eastern United States. With all the nasty air particles floating around, experts say you should wear a mask if you do venture out.Just like with the coronavirus, the stronger the mask, the better, although any face covering is better than none, said Ramón Tallaj, a doctor who leads SOMOS Community Care, a nonprofit health network based in New York.People wear masks as they wait for the tramway to Roosevelt Island as smoke from Canadian wildfires casts a haze over the area on June 7, 2023 in New York City. Air pollution alerts were issued across the United States due to smoke from wildfires that have been burning in Canada for weeks. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)Dr. Jennifer Logan, a pediatric pulmonologist with Lehigh Valley Health Network in Pennsylvania, told The Morning Call that wearing most masks will not help protect against smoke inhala...

Boston-based drug ring is busted by the feds, allegedly trafficked fentanyl and crack cocaine from Massachusetts to New Hampshire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:31 GMT

A Boston-based drug trafficking ring that’s accused of flooding New Hampshire with fentanyl and crack cocaine has been busted by the feds, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has announced.More than 20 suspects have been charged in connection with an organized drug trafficking ring operating out of Boston and Manchester, N.H.Those 22 defendants includes the alleged Dorchester ringleader Juan Ramon Soto Baez, aka “Ricky,” aka “Nicolas Lopez Rosado.” The 53-year-old man is in custody, along with 11 of the defendants on conspiracy to distribute controlled substance charges.The drug trafficking ring is accused of supplying the Manchester-area with fentanyl and crack cocaine for at least the past four years. These individuals allegedly trafficked large quantities of fentanyl and crack cocaine from Massachusetts to New Hampshire.“This operation has dealt a crippling blow to a Boston-based drug trafficking organization led by Juan Ramon Soto Baez that is ac...

BMX star Pat Casey dies in crash at Ramona motocross track

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:31 GMT

RAMONA, Calif. — Officials have identified the man who died Tuesday at a motocross track in Ramona.Patrick "Pat" Michael Casey, 29, died after he lost control of the motocross bike he was riding and was ejected from the vehicle, the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office said.The incident happened around 2:45 p.m. at Slayground Motocross Park, which is owned by Axell Hodges, a three-time gold medal winner in X Games Moto X competition. Man stabbed during fight outside Ocean Beach bar According to authorities, Casey crashed his motorcycle while performing a jump on the park ramps. Bystanders called 911 after the crash and paramedics were dispatched to the track. Medics found Casey pulseless and apneic. Despite life-saving measures, he was not able to be resuscitated and was pronounced dead at the scene."We are deeply saddened by Pat Casey's passing and our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, children, parents and siblings," X Games said in a post on Instagram. "A true lege...

Bidens to host Juneteenth concert at White House

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:31 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will host a Juneteenth concert next week in a “celebration of community, culture and music,” the White House announced Wednesday.The concert, to be held June 13, will be on the South Lawn of the White House. During the event, the White House says it will “uplift American art forms that sing to the soul of the American experience” as part of Black Music Month.Artists that will be featured include Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, singer and talk show host Jennifer Hudson, and Cliff “Method Man” Smith, a member of the legendary hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan.Juneteenth marks when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free — which occurred June 19, 1885, when Union soldiers told enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, news of their freedom. It became a federal holiday in 2021.“This is a day of profound weight and profound power, a day in which we remember the moral stain, the terrible toll that sla...

New York City sues 30 counties over ‘xenophobic’ orders banning migrant relocations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:31 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City sued nearly half the state’s counties Wednesday over their attempts to keep out international migrants, the latest escalation in an ongoing battle between city officials and local leaders. The suit, filed in state court Wednesday, accuses at least 30 New York counties of seeking to “wall off their borders” to asylum seekers through “xenophobic” executive orders that violate state and federal law.“These counties have implemented misguided and unlawful executive orders premised on false claims that the prospect of a few hundred asylum seekers sheltered at the city’s expense across multiple counties constitute an emergency and imperil public safety,” said Sylvia Hinds-Radiz, a lawyer for the city. New York City has struggled to care for an influx of asylum seekers in recent months, converting hotels and houses of worship to shelters as Mayor Eric Adams repeatedly declared that the city had reached its limit on new arrivals. Last month, the city began...

UN investigators compiling evidence on chemical weapons use by Islamic State extremists in Iraq

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:31 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. investigators are compiling evidence on the development and use of chemical weapons by Islamic State extremists in Iraq after they seized about a third of the country in 2014, and are advancing work on the militant group’s gender-based violence and crimes against children, Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Christians and Yazidis, the head of the investigative team said Wednesday.Christian Ritscher told the U.N. Security Council that survivors of a March 2016 chemical attack against Taza Khurmatu, a mainly Shia Turkmen town south of Kirkuk in northeast Iraq, were still deeply impacted when he visited earlier this year.He said he has prioritized the investigation of chemical weapons used by the Islamic State, also known as ISIL.“ISIL weaponized several chemical agents and deployed these as chemical rockets and mortars, as well as improvised explosive devices, in the vicinity of Taza Khurmatu” which hit residential neighborhoods and agricultural fields, Ritscher said...

Autopsy finds North Carolina man died of ‘sudden cardiac arrest’ during police confrontation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:31 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A man who died after police officers in North Carolina’s capital city repeatedly used stun guns on him died from “sudden cardiac arrest” related to cocaine intoxication and the police confrontation, according to the state’s autopsy released on Wednesday. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner also labeled the Jan. 17 death of 32-year-old Darryl Tyree Williams a homicide.The autopsy report listed Williams’ death “as sudden cardiac arrest in the setting of cocaine intoxication, physical exertion, conducted energy weapon use, and physical restraint.” A toxicology analysis detected cocaine and a chemical contained in marijuana among others in his blood, the report said.The State Bureau of Investigation has been looking into the death and the role of Raleigh Police Department officers who said they were trying to arrest Williams for possession of a controlled substance. Several officers were placed on leave as part of the investigation. Will...

In unusual orca sighting, tour spots at least 20 killer whales off San Francisco

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:31 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An uncommonly large grouping of orcas for Northern California — roughly two dozen killer whales — were spotted by a whale watching tour off the coast of San Francisco last month, likely gathered together to celebrate a successful hunt for sea lions or seals.“I screamed ‘orca!’” recalled Michael Pierson, a Oceanic Society naturalist leading the tour, after noticing “those distinct dorsal finds poking out of the water.”“It was really, really special,” Pearson said in an interview Wednesday. The big group of whales was seen on May 7 near the Farallon Islands, about 28 miles (45 kilometers) west of San Francisco. Killer whales are more commonly found around the deep ocean canyon beneath Monterey Bay — about 75 miles south of the city — and can be spotted anywhere from the coastline to just 5 miles off shore, according to Nancy Black, a marine biologist and owner of Monterey Bay Whale Watch.It’s easier for whale-watching tours to see them in Monterey Bay becaus...

Workers at Barnes & Noble in Manhattan’s Union Square vote to unionize, continuing trend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:31 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Workers at the Barnes & Noble in Manhattan’s Union Square, one of the retail chain’s signature stores and home to its corporate offices, have voted to unionize. They join employees at a handful of other Barnes & Noble stores in the Northeast who have affiliated with unions in recent weeks, following a wave of union activity over the past few years at independent booksellers.The Union Square employees are now part of the the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which also represents workers at McNally Jackson, Greenlight Bookstore and other independents. In an announcement Wednesday, the RWDSU cited issues at the Union Square store ranging from workplace harassment to “unstable scheduling practices” and “favoritism by management.” “Together, with their colleagues in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and just across the water in Brooklyn, Barnes & Noble workers in Union Square have sent a message all across the nation — the bookstore industry ...