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Nathalie Stutzmann, contralto now conductor, to debut at Met

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:12:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — While singing on the world’s great stages, Nathalie Stutzmann thought about blond lager.“In Europe it’s very common to have the conductor getting a beer right backstage. I was so thirsty when I came offstage after a performance, I was always dreaming: It would be nice to be a conductor and get them,” she said with a laugh.Minutes after a successful New York Philharmonic podium debut in February, Stutzmann had a beer in hand even before reaching her dressing room.“That’s the best beer ever, the one you get as a conductor right after the performance,” she said.Stutzmann gave up a quarter-century career as a contralto to become a conductor. She took over as music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra last fall and makes her Metropolitan Opera debut in a new production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” on Friday night, a day before her 58th birthday. On July 28 she becomes only the second woman to conduct at the Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth, Germany.“She deals perso...

ACLU sues amid Missouri GOP spat over abortion measure cost

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:12:00 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri ACLU on Thursday sued statewide officials for stonewalling a constitutional amendment to restore abortion rights as the attorney general pushes for a price tag on the proposal that is 1 million times higher than what the state auditor has estimated. At issue is a power struggle between two Republican statewide officials — Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick — that has delayed supporters from collecting required voter signatures on the ballot measure. The proposed constitutional amendment would protect abortion rights and pregnant women, as well as access to birth control. Currently, most abortions are outlawed in the state. There are exceptions for medical emergencies, but not for cases of rape or incest.Because Bailey, a gubernatorial appointee who took office in January, disagrees with Fitzpatrick’s cost estimate and won’t give what has traditionally been considered perfunctory approval, Republican Secret...

Drug plant explosion leaves worker missing at destroyed site

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:12:00 GMT

NEWBURYPORT, Mass. (AP) — A powerful explosion Thursday at a pharmaceutical chemical plant in Massachusetts left one worker missing and prompted U.S. Sen. Edward Markey to demand greater accountability from the troubled facility.Authorities said there was no threat to the local population or to homes near the Newburyport building, but fire officials told employees who work in the industrial park where the facility lies to stay away. One woman who didn’t get the message said she could taste chemicals on her lips.The explosion happened around 1 a.m. at the Sequens/PCI Synthesis plant, officials said. Video showed most of the roof torn off a building, and the blast blew a vat from the building 30 feet into a parking lot, acting Fire Chief Stephen Bradbury III said in a news release.Markey said the company needs to provide answers, given the facility’s history of accidents and violations.“Today’s chemical explosion in Newburyport is devastating,” the Massachusetts Democrat said in...

Indiana governor signs bills targeting LGBTQ students

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:12:00 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s governor on Thursday signed a bill that will require schools to notify a parent if a student requests a name or pronoun change at school, one of the final bills approved in a legislative session that had targeted LGBTQ+ people in the state, especially students.Critics worry the law could out transgender children to their families and erode trust between students and teachers while supporters have contested the legislation keeps parents empowered and informed about their children when at school.Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb’s approval of the legislation comes in a year when GOP-led legislatures around the country are seeking to curb LGBTQ+ rights, specifically targeting trans people’s participation in sports, workplaces and schools, as well as their access to health care.Recently, Florida Republicans on Wednesday also approved a bill that would prevent students and teachers from being required to use pronouns that don’t correspond to som...

NC lawmakers pass 12-week abortion ban; governor vows veto

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:12:00 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina lawmakers on Thursday approved a ban on nearly all abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, down from the current 20 weeks, in response to last year’s overturning of Roe v. Wade at the U.S. Supreme Court.The ban is one of the least onerous of a slew of bills Republican-led assemblies have pushed through in recent months since the high court stripped away women’s constitutional protections for abortion. Other states have banned the procedure nearly completely or throughout pregnancy.Nonetheless, the 29-20 vote by the Senate was met with loud cries of “Abortion rights now!” from about 100 observers who had crowded into the gallery to watch the debate. Police quickly cleared the area, but protesters could still be heard yelling “Shame!” from outside the closed doors. While perhaps less restrictive, North Carolina’s bill has far-reaching consequences. Before its passage, many women from nearby states with restrictive laws had traveled to the state...

Skilling: Beautiful weekend ahead for Chicagoland

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:12:00 GMT

The longest spell of warm weather in three week—including the warmest weekend to date in 2023—is getting underway.Chicago's high temp hit 70-degrees for the 9th time this year. We're running way ahead of last year at this time when only four 70s were on the books. We've had four 80s so far in 2023---last year had recorded only one to date.The warm weather taking hold is the first extended spell of elevated temps in nearly 3 weeks. Sixteen of the past 19 days have averaged at or below normal—so this warm-up will be noticeable.And the warming has legs. Modeling suggests each of the coming 15 days is to produce temps which are above normal.The coming weekend is to come in an eye-opening 21-deg warmer than last and is to blow past our previous warmest 2023 weekend which occurred back on April 7 & 8th. This weekend is to see daytime highs in the 70s—even flirting with 80 and it is to average 68-deg-----which is more than 16-deg warmer than the April 7-8 weekend more than a month ago....

Illinois gets more than $4M over TurboTax 'free ads' settlement

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:12:00 GMT

CHICAGO — Filed your taxes with TurboTax? You may be eligible for more money.Intuit, the owner of the online software used to file taxes, will pay $141 million in restitution, including more than $4.38 million to Illinois residents. Under the agreement reached in May 2022, Intuit will provide restitution to consumers who started using the commercial TurboTax Free Edition for tax years 2016 through 2018 and were told that they had to pay to file even though they were eligible for the version of TurboTax offered as part of the IRS Free File program.RELATED: Intuit to pay $141M settlement over ‘free’ TurboTax ads, here’s who is eligibleThe 143,000 affected will be contacted by email and checks will be mailed throughout the month of May.Some checks will be mailed as early as next week. “Intuit deceived customers into paying for their products while attempting to diminish free tax services available through the federal government,” said Attorney General Kwame Raoul. “I am pleased that co...

Father of girl who disappeared in 1982 to face murder trial

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:12:00 GMT

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A Chicago man has been ordered to stand trial for murder in connection with the 1982 disappearance of his 8-month-old daughter, whose body has never been found, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Thursday.Isiah Williams, 76, accused in the presumed death of Olisa Williams, was bound over for trial in Washtenaw County, Nessel said.Williams allegedly took the girl from the arms of her mother, Denise Frazier-Daniel, during a struggle on April 29, 1982, in Ohio and took her to Michigan, where she was last seen alive that summer in Williams’ custody, Nessel said. Boater finds missing man dead in Fox River in McHenry County Olisa was never found and is presumed dead, Nessel said.Ann Arbor police asked the attorney general's office to review the case in early 2021. An open-murder charge was brought against Williams that October, and a lengthy extradition process followed, Nessel said.Williams is due in Washtenaw Circuit Court for a pretrial conference...

PHOTOS: Check out a sneak preview of this year's Austin Outdoor Living Tour

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:12:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — This Saturday, Austinites will have the opportunity to tour 10 backyards decked out by local landscape architects. The annual Austin Outdoor Living tour, organized by the Modern Architecture Design Society that puts on the Austin Modern Home Tour, showcases local landscape architectural feats to inspire those with landscape aspirations themselves.  MORE: A shed filled with dolls, a house adorned with mermaids and more in Austin’s Weird Homes Tour "Some people don’t know what to do with their space and so they are looking for ideas," said Laura Parsons, a designer whose home is featured in this year's tour. "I love inspiring people and hope we can help them with their spaces."The back and front yards on Saturday's tour will feature a varying assortment of designs. Some projects featured, like Parsons', have more modern and sleek designs, perfect for hosting parties, and others, like Reese Baloutine's — of Seedlings Gardening — showcase a project that heightens the n...

APD officer facing 2 separate murder charges heads to first pretrial court hearing

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:12:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Court proceedings for two separate murder charges against Austin police officer Christopher Taylor, 31, continued Thursday morning with a scheduled hearing.Thursday’s hearing was a pretrial with witnesses, according to Travis County records.In July 2019, Taylor was accused of shooting and killing 46-year-old Mauris Nishanga DeSilva in downtown Austin during a check welfare call. In addition to a murder charge, he also faces a charge of deadly conduct for the discharge of a firearm related to the 2019 incident.In April 2020, Taylor was also accused of shooting and killing 42-year-old Michael Ramos in southeast Austin during a confrontation.Court records displayed that Taylor was arrested and booked into the Travis County jail twice in 2021 related to the investigations—once in March and another time in August.Records showed Taylor was set to appear again May 15 for another pretrial with witnesses.As of Thursday, Taylor’s trial for the murder charges was set for May 22...