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Audit shows city paid millions in claims caused by city employee-involved crashes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A newly released city audit has found City of San Diego employees are responsible for hundreds of crashes, and it's costing the city millions of dollars in settlement claims.The audit found that most of the accidents were preventable and points back to training and policies. Click here to view the audit of the City of San Diego from the Office of the City Auditor.The audit states the city needs to take more steps to address and prevent unsafe driving by its employees.The audit investigation found city supervisors rarely review car data, such as speed or seatbelt use, even though it is required by city policy. The city responded in the audit disagreeing. The city's management team states they are considering a centralized operational review.The audit found city employees were not held accountable for 39 crashes, because the investigations were never finished. The city agreed, responding they are reviewing and when completed will take the recommended actions.The audit fou...

Stampede in Yemen’s capital kills at least 78, officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A crowd apparently spooked by gunfire and an electrical explosion stampeded at an event to distribute financial aid during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Yemen’s capital late Wednesday, killing at least 78 people and injuring at least 73 others, according to witnesses and Houthi rebel officials.The tragedy was the deadliest in years that was not related to Yemen’s long conflict, and came ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan later this week.Armed Houthis fired into the air in an attempt at crowd control, apparently striking an electrical wire and causing it to explode, according to two witnesses, Abdel-Rahman Ahmed and Yahia Mohsen. That sparked a panic, and people, including many women and children, began stampeding, they said.Video posted on social media showed dozens of bodies, some motionless, and others screaming as people tried to help. Separate footage of the aftermath released by Houthi officials showed bloodstain...

Police charge 14-year-old for threat made against Forest Hill school

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

A 14-year-old has been charged after they allegedly made a threat toward a junior and senior public school in Toronto’s Forest Hill neighbourhood.Police responded to reports of a threat made to Forest Hill Junior and Senior Public School on Wednesday.There was no indication that the school was placed in a hold and secure or lockdown as a result of the threats.A 14-year-old child was later charged with uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm. The youth will appear in court on Thursday.They were not identified through the province’s Youth Criminal Justice Act.No injuries were reported.A Toronto high school was placed in a hold and secure on Wednesday after a group of kids threatened Weston Collegiate Institute.No injuries were reported, and charges have not been laid. Police said the investigation is ongoing.

Last minute brinkmanship and overseas assist end Fox case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Before pulling back from the brink of a trial, Fox News and Dominion Voting systems faced a stern deadline — not from an impatient judge or jury, but from a man on a Danube River cruise with his wife half a world away.A mediator hired late Sunday pushed the two sides toward a $787 million settlement that brought a stunning end to the most-watched media libel case in decades, one that sought to put a price on lies told about the 2020 presidential election on conservative America’s most popular news outlet.“It’s a deadline that I always impose because I know that once a jury is empaneled and opening statements are made, then one or other of the parties will dig into their positions,” Jerry Roscoe, of the Washington-based JAMS mediation service, said Wednesday. “It makes negotiations much more difficult.”As the haggling went on, over the phone and in back rooms of a Delaware courthouse, lawyers, journalists and spectators waited as a scheduled 1:30 p.m. star...

9 men trying to enter US from Canada treated for exposure

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

WARROAD, Minn. (AP) — Nine men who entered the United States illegally from Canada were rescued from a sub-freezing bog and given medical treatment for exposure to the cold, authorities said Wednesday.The nine, ranging in age from 19 to 46, were found Tuesday near Warroad, a small lakeside Minnesota community about 7.5 miles (12 kilometers) south of the Canadian border. The area is southwest of an official port of entry.U.S. Border Patrol agents and rescuers from other agencies were sent to the area at around 5 a.m. after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said someone in the group of men had made an emergency phone call, a Border Patrol statement said.The men were found in a flooded bog.“When agents arrived on scene, they determined the temperatures in the bog were below freezing and they would require special equipment to reach the group,” the statement said. “The agents were able to rescue the men from the frigid water by wearing protective suits.” The men were taken to medical fa...

Sudan rivals attempt another truce as civilians flee unrest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Sudan’s rival generals on Wednesday made a new attempt at a 24-hour humanitarian cease-fire after a failed truce the night before. But sporadic fighting continued, and aid groups said they needed guarantees and a wider window to help civilians trapped by five days of intense urban combat.Terrified Sudanese fled Khartoum earlier in the day, hauling whatever belongings they could carry and trying to get out of the capital, where forces loyal to the country’s top two generals have been battling each other with tanks, artillery and airstrikes since Saturday.The fighting became less intense in the first hours after the cease-fire took effect at 6 p.m., with sporadic clashes continuing in the city center, said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, secretary of the Doctors’ Syndicate, who is still in the capital. But he said neither side has provided guarantees to his group to facilitate movement of health care workers and ambulances.Desperate residents of the capital hav...

California city audits police who sent racist, abusive texts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

ANTIOCH, Calif. (AP) — A San Francisco Bay Area city council is undertaking an audit of its troubled police department, the latest development in a year-long federal investigation of the Antioch Police Department that blew up this month with the disclosure of racist and hostile text messages sent by officers. Angry residents crowded City Hall on Tuesday evening as the Antioch City Council unanimously approved audits of the department’s internal affairs unit, its hiring and promotional practices and of department culture. Officials have named 17 officers who sent text messages, including the president of the Antioch police union, although Contra Costa County’s public defender said that nearly half of the 100-officer department was included in the text chains.Defense attorney Ellen McDonnell has asked District Attorney Diana Becton to dismiss all cases involving the public defender’s office and Antioch police. Becton said she is reviewing cases for potential dismissal or resente...

Coroner: Body of man recovered from Lake Michigan in Waukegan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

WAUKEGAN, Ill. — The body of a white man was recovered Wednesday evening from Lake Michigan in Waukegan, according to the Lake County Coroner's Office.Deputy Chief Coroner Steve Newton told WGN-TV News the body was found in Waukegan Harbor. Illinois middle school wrestler sucker-punched by opponent after loss in viral video The person's identity hasn't been confirmed yet. This is a breaking news story and new information will be added as the story develops.

T. rex skeleton sells for more than $5M at Zurich auction, less than expected

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

BERN, Switzerland (AP) — Nearly 300 Tyrannosaurus rex bones that were dug up from three sites in the United States and assembled into a single skeleton sold Tuesday at an auction in Switzerland for 4.8 million francs ($5.3 million), below the expected price.Crafted into an open-mouth pose, the T. rex skeleton measuring 11.6 meters long (38 feet long) and 3.9 meters high (12.8 feet) high came in under the anticipated range of 5 million to 8 million francs when it went under the hammer at the Koller auction house in Zurich.Koller had said Tuesday’s sale would be the first time such a T. rex skeleton would go up for auction in Europe. The composite skeleton, featuring 293 bones, was a showpiece of an auction that featured some 70 lots, and the skull was set up next to the auctioneer's podium throughout.“It could be that it was a composite — that could be why the purists didn't go for it,” Karl Green, the auction house’s marketing director, said by phone. “It's a fair price for the dino...

Capitol vs. capital: Texas to strip some local powers to standardize regulations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- A bill to assert the state's preeminence over many local regulations passed the Texas House on Wednesday and is likely to be signed into law this legislative session.The Texas Regulatory Consistency Act is intended to standardize regulations between cities. It would nullify many local ordinances and prohibit municipalities from adopting ordinances that relate to broad areas of law the state already addresses. These include the state codes relating to labor, business and commerce, agriculture, finance, insurance, natural resources, occupations, and property.The bill's author, Lubbock Republican Dustin Burrows, said the bill will save small businesses from navigating often confusing and costly regulations."We want those small business owners creating new jobs and providing for their families, not trying to navigate a Byzantine array of local regulations that twist and turn every time they cross city limit sign," he said.The National Federation of Independent Busine...