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Florida fines high school for allowing transgender student to play girls volleyball

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:34 GMT

By TERRY SPENCER (Associated Press)FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s state athletic board fined a high school and put it on probation Tuesday after a transgender student played on the girls volleyball team, a violation of a controversial law enacted by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature. The Florida High School Athletic Association fined Monarch High $16,500, ordered the principal and athletic director to attend rules seminars and placed the suburban Fort Lauderdale school on probation for 11 months, meaning further violations could lead to increased punishments. The association also barred the girl from participating in boys sports for 11 months. The 2021 law, which supporters named “The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” bars transgender girls and women from playing on public school teams intended for student athletes identified as girls at birth. The student, a 10th grader who played in 33 matches over the last two seasons, was removed from the...

Red Sox bid for naught: Seth Lugo signs with Royals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:34 GMT

A Red Sox pitching target is officially off the board.On Tuesday afternoon, MLB.com’s Anne Rogers broke the news that Seth Lugo is signing a three-year, $45 million contract with the Kansas City Royals. The deal pays him $15M per year with a player opt-out after two seasons.The Red Sox were not only one of several teams interested in Lugo – insider Robert Murray reported that more than half the league had checked in on the reliever-turned-starter – but actually made him an offer. The Herald confirmed that Boston was planning to take that step last week.  According to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo, the Red Sox were one of the “top four bidders” for the righty, but it’s unclear if they were willing to go as long as three years.Lugo spent the bulk of his first seven Major League seasons in the New York Mets bullpen, with sporadic starts, but proved himself in San Diego’s rotation this year. He made 26 starts for the Padres, and posted a 3.57 ERA, 3.83 FIP...

With Ukraine aid in peril, Zelenskyy meets with Biden and pleads his case on Capitol Hill

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:34 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — His country's future at stake, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used inspirational words, optimistic resolve and a nod to Christmas in appealing Tuesday to leaders in Congress for U.S. aid for his fighters in the war with Russia.But after hours of talks on Capitol Hill, additional American support appeared in grave doubt as Zelenskyy arrived at the White House to huddle with President Joe Biden. The U.S. has already provided Ukraine $111 billion since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his grinding invasion more than 21 months ago, but Republicans are insisting on linking any more money to strict U.S.-Mexico border security changes that Democrats decry.The White House is warning that if new money isn't provided by year's end it will have swift consequences for Ukraine's capacity to hold its territory, let alone take back land captured by Russia. Zelensky arrives at White House after failing to sway Republ...

Vancouver police arrest man after claim of gun in Ibrahim Ali murder trial courtroom

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:34 GMT

Vancouver Police say a man was arrested after lawyers for Ibrahim Ali said someone brought a loaded gun to the final day of their client’s trial last week, where he was convicted of murdering a 13-year-old girl.Vancouver Police spokesman Sgt. Steve Addison says in a statement the man was released pending further investigations.Lawyer Kevin McCullough said in an interview Monday that Victoria Police told him someone close to the proceedings brought a loaded Glock handgun to court with an intention “to kill” on Friday.McCullough has filed notice of appeal against his client’s conviction for first-degree murder in the killing of the girl in Burnaby’s Central Park in 2017.The notice of appeal filed Monday lists 25 grounds, including that the court didn’t properly address safety concerns about death threats against Ali’s lawyers, and that there were “third party suspects” in the girl’s death.McCullough says two other men were ar...

How the presidents of Harvard, Penn and MIT testified to Congress on antisemitism

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:34 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — Over five hours at a congressional hearing, lawmakers pressed the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT on the topic of antisemitism. In some instances, they were unable to say whether calls for the genocide of Jews would violate their schools’ conduct policies. The backlash started almost immediately. Penn’s leader stepped down within days. Harvard’s president was on the hot seat for nearly a week before a university governing board announced Tuesday she would stay on the job. Republicans and Democrats alike criticized responses the presidents gave at the Dec. 5 hearing of a U.S. House committee on antisemitism on college campuses. In particular, the uproar centered on a line of questioning from Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who repeatedly asked how each university’s code of conduct would handle calls for the genocide of Jews. Early in the questioning, Stefanik asked the presidents about chants for “intifada,” a...

FBI to exhume woman’s body from unsolved 1969 killing in Netflix’s ‘The Keepers’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:34 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — FBI investigators are planning to exhume the body of a young woman whose unsolved 1969 killing has been a source of widespread speculation, especially since Netflix’s documentary series “The Keepers” examined the slaying of a Baltimore nun that unfolded days earlier under eerily similar circumstances.Joyce Malecki went Christmas shopping in November 1969 at a suburban mall outside Baltimore and never came home. Her body was found on a nearby military base days later and an autopsy determined she had been strangled.An advocate for the Malecki family confirmed Tuesday that the exhumation was tentatively planned for Thursday. The case received renewed attention after “The Keepers” was released in 2017, raising questions about whether Malecki’s disappearance was linked to that of Sister Cathy Cesnik, who was found dead from blunt force trauma after she went shopping and never returned.Also in 2017, investigators exhumed the body of a Catholic priest, Father Joseph Maske...

Judge rejects delay of ruling backing North Dakota tribes’ effort to change legislative boundaries

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:34 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a request to delay his decision supporting two Native American tribes that sought changes to North Dakota’s legislative boundaries to give the tribes more influence in the Legislature.U.S. District Chief Judge Peter Welte denied Republican Secretary of State Michael Howe’s motion to stay his ruling, pending an expected appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.Last month, Welte ruled that the map violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in that it “prevents Native American voters from having an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.” He gave Howe and the Republican-controlled Legislature until Dec. 22 “to adopt a plan to remedy the violation.”Days after the Nov. 17 ruling, Howe announced his plans to appeal, citing a recent 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that private individuals and groups such as the NAACP can’t sue under a major section of the landmark civil rights law.Last we...

Police ask for charges in fatal stabbing of Detroit synagogue leader

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:34 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — Police have made a request for charges in the fatal stabbing of a Detroit synagogue leader in October, the prosecutor’s office said Tuesday.No additional information will be released while the warrant request is being reviewed, spokesperson Maria Miller said. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office sometimes kicks back cases for more work. Samantha Woll, 40, was found dead outside her home, east of downtown Detroit, on Oct. 21, hours after returning from a wedding. Investigators believe the attack occurred inside the residence.Police Chief James White has repeatedly said there’s no evidence that antisemitism had a role in the attack.Police said a person of interest was in custody over the weekend. A different person who was in custody was released in November.Woll was president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue. Besides her work for the synagogue, Woll had worked for Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin and on the political campaign of state Attorney...

Carolyn Bennett stepping down as Liberal MP for Toronto-St. Paul’s after 26 years

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:34 GMT

OTTAWA — Longtime Liberal Carolyn Bennett says she is retiring as the MP for Toronto-St. Paul’s after 26 years.The former family doctor delivered her final speech in the House of Commons just a week before her 73rd birthday, saying she made a tough decision in 1997 to leave medicine for a career in politics but has never regretted it.Bennett served under three prime ministers and spent a little over 10 years in cabinet, more than half that as the Crown-Indigenous relations minister between 2015 and 2021.Bennett was shuffled out of cabinet this past summer following her announcement that she would not be seeking re-election.She now says she will be leaving her seat right away, rather than waiting for the next election to retire.Longtime Liberal staffer Leslie Church, who most recently served as chief of staff to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, has already been nominated to run for the party in Bennett’s riding.Toronto-St. Paul’s used to be considered a bellwethe...

Kate Cox sought an abortion in Texas. A court said no because she didn’t show her life was in danger

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:34 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Kate Cox, whose fetus had a fatal condition, did not qualify for an abortion in Texas: Not after four emergency room visits, elevated vital signs, risks of a uterine rupture and with her ability to have more children in jeopardy.The Texas Supreme Court’s rejection of the mother of two’s request for an exception under the state’s restrictive ban has laid bare the high threshold women in many states must meet to get the procedure: Pregnancy complications that pose life-threatening danger to the mother. “These laws reflect the policy choice that the Legislature has made, and the courts must respect that choice,” the court’s nine Republican justices said in their ruling late Monday.The state’s Republican attorney general had for a week argued that Cox did not meet the standard for an exception, despite appeals from her attorneys that her health was deteriorating. Hours before the order came down, Cox’s attorney said she could no longer ...