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After Taylor shooting, feds find police discrimination

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:40 GMT

By DYLAN LOVAN (Associated Press)LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department found Louisville police have engaged in a pattern of violating constitutional rights and discrimination against the Black community following an investigation prompted by the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor.Attorney General Merrick Garland made the announcement Wednesday. A Justice Department report found the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government and Louisville Metro Police Department “engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of their rights under the Constitution and federal law.”The report said the Louisville police department “discriminates against Black people in its enforcement activities,” uses excessive force and conducts searches based on invalid warrants. It also said the department violates the rights of people engaged in protected speech, like the street protests in the city in the summer of 2020 after Taylor’s death...

Don’t forget the finances when caring for your newborn

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:40 GMT

When you’re caring for a newborn, it can be hard enough to carve out time to shower, let alone stay on top of money tasks. In the fog of sleep deprivation, you may miss a bill payment or impulse-buy random things online to help with infant care. Suddenly, your credit scores are down and your budget is stretched.Planning for the baby itself — the name ideas, the nursery themes — is certainly more adorable than developing a system to make sure you remember to open the mail, but the last thing you’ll want to do is leave money management up to chance when your baby arrives. Here are ways to start financially nesting.Knock out important tasksTake advantage of the pre-baby months to make some big decisions, including:Health insurance for the baby: Giving birth or adopting a child is considered a “qualifying life event” as far as health insurance coverage goes. That means you won’t have to wait for open enrollment to add your child to your plan, but you’ll have only a limited amount of tim...

Ravens hire former NFL defensive end Chuck Smith as outside linebackers coach

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:40 GMT

The Ravens continued filling out their coaching staff Wednesday, hiring former NFL defensive end Chuck Smith to be their outside linebackers coach.Smith replaces Rob Leonard, who left to become defensive line coach for the Las Vegas Raiders after one season in Baltimore.Smith, who played for the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers from 1992 to 2000, has built a career training pass rushers as a consultant for college and professional players and coaches. He worked as a training camp consultant for several NFL teams, including the Ravens in 2008, before he became a pass-rush specialist for the New York Jets in 2009 and the defensive line coach at the University of Tennessee (his alma mater) in 2010. He also worked as a coaching fellow for the Cincinnati Bengals during the 2015 offseason.Last month, Smith worked with players at the historically Black colleges and universities NFL scouting combine.“Chuck is a proven and highly respected pass rush coach who many pro and collegia...

Suffolk DA drops case against noted NBA skills trainer Robert McClanaghan

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:40 GMT

Suffolk prosecutors on Wednesday dropped the case against high profile NBA skills trainer Robert McClanaghan who had been charged with allegedly drugging and raping a woman at a Boston hotel.Suffolk DA Keven Hayden’s office said in a release Wednesday it had filed a nolle prosequi with the court — which translates from the Latin to “not to wish to prosecute,” according to Cornell Law School’s Wex Law Dictionary — effectively ending the case.“Rob and his family are relieved that this nightmare is over,” said defense attorney Kelli Porges. “He has maintained his innocence from the beginning.”In the filing with the court, Hayden’s office stated “the Commonwealth has determined that it cannot prove these charges beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.””Our responsibility in all cases is to follow the evidence wherever it leads,” Hayden’s office said in the announcement. “In some cases that endeavor does not add up to a viable prosecution. We have a duty to recognize that conclusion and to t...

Estonia’s Reform Party starts coalition government talks

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:40 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — Estonia’s center-right Reform Party started talks with two smaller parties Wednesday about forming a new liberal-minded coalition government.The party of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas won the Baltic nation’s general election on Sunday with 31.2% of the vote. Kallas hosted a meeting of delegates from the Reform Party, the centrist Estonia 200 party and the left-leaning Social Democratic Party at Stenbock House, where the Estonian prime minister’s office is located. “We want to reach an agreement that will improve the lives of all people in Estonia,” Kallas said. “The Reform Party’s priorities are to firmly protect Estonia in the coming years, improve the livelihood of Estonian people and launch economic growth based on the green reform.”The Reform Party was the senior partner in the outgoing three-party government. Although it won nearly twice as many votes Sunday as the election’s runner-up, the far-right populist Conservative People’s Party of E...

US defense chief: Egypt ties an ‘essential pillar’ in region

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:40 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday that America’s defense partnership with Egypt is an “essential pillar” of Washington’s commitment to the Middle East. Austin made the remark on Twitter after touching down in Cairo on the latest leg of his Middle East tour. He was greeted by senior Egyptian military officials at the Cairo airport. After landing, Austin held talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and other high-ranking officials.According to a statement issued by Egypt’s presidential spokesperson, el-Sissi and Austin discussed various issues, including military cooperation and surging violence in the Palestinian territories. Few further details about the meeting were given.Austin was expected to depart Cairo for Israel later Wednesday. His previous stops on the tour included Jordan and Iraq. He was in Baghdad on Tuesday on an unannounced visit, days before the 20th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. Egypt ...

Safety board report says deadly tug sinking in B.C. highlights systemic safety issues

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:40 GMT

VANCOUVER — The deaths of two men after their tugboat sank off British Columbia’s coast have prompted recommendations from the Transportation Safety Board for all such small vessels in Canada. The tug Ingenika was towing a loaded barge in a narrow channel along the northern coast when poor weather affected its ability to tow and maintain speed, and the safety board’s report says the tug started taking on water. The three men aboard were able to abandon ship, but only one person made it to the life raft and the bodies of the pilot and deck hand were recovered hours later by search and rescue crews. Transportation Safety Board chair Kathy Fox says it has investigated six occurrences of similar-sized tugs since 2015 and their systemic safety issues have been on its safety watchlist for 13 years. The board makes four recommendations, including that tugs under 15 gross tonnes undergo regular inspections, that owners and operators assess risks adequately and that the Pacific P...

Tucker Carlson’s scorn for Trump revealed in court papers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:40 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A defamation lawsuit is revealing scornful behind-the-scenes opinions by Fox News figures about Donald Trump, including a Tucker Carlson text message declaring “I hate him passionately.”Carlson’s private text conversation was revealed in court papers at virtually the same time that the former president was hailing the Fox News host on social media. Trump said he was doing a “great job” in presenting excerpts of U.S. Capitol security video of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection — though Carlson used the video to produce a false narrative of the attack.The documents are also coming to light at a time of increased tension between Trump and the dominant media force appealing to conservatives as he campaigns to regain the presidency.Voting machine manufacturer Dominion Voting Systems is suing Fox News for $1.6 billion, claiming the network broadcast false claims that the company was responsible for fraud in the 2020 presidential election. The case is to go to trial this ...

California company’s 3D-printed rocket to make debut launch

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:40 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A rocket made almost entirely of 3D-printed parts was poised to blast off Wednesday on its debut launch. California-based Relativity Space is attempting to launch the rocket to orbit from a former missile site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It’s a relatively small rocket, just 110 feet (33 meters), and won’t be carrying anything for this test flight except for a memento: the first successful metal 3D print from the company’s printers.About 85% of the rocket, named Terran, is made of 3D parts printed at the company’s factory in Long Beach, California, including its engines. Relativity Space aims to increase that percentage on its future versions.SpaceX’s Falcon rockets have been flying with 3D parts for years, but not nearly to the extent of Relativity Space’s new rocket.Relativity Space said its rocket is the largest 3D printed object to attempt a launch.Businessman Mark Cuban of TV’s “Shark Tank” was among the early invest...

2023 Oscars: What to know about supporting actor nominees

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:40 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The only downside of Ke Huy Quanbeing a lock for the best supporting actor win at the Oscars is that you don’t get to hear much from the other nominees as a result. And this is a category full of interesting performances and actors at all stages of their careers.All will be celebrated during the Academy Awards, which airs live Sunday on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern. There’s still time to catch up on their performances before the show.Here’s a bit more about the contenders:BRIAN TYREE HENRYWhile filming “Causeway,” Jennifer Lawrence would sometimes finish a scene with Brian Tyree Henry and say to him, “You’re going to get nominated for an Oscar” and then just walk away.Henry was a little baffled at the time, but Lawrence (a four-time nominee and one-time winner ) was right.“She was unforgiving in reminding me that this was possible. I truly owe her a debt of gratitude,” Henry told The Associated Press. “She really believed it.”Henry plays a grieving mechan...