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2 charged in killings linked to NYC nightclub robberies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — New York police arrested two men in connection with two killings last year that investigators believe were part of a series of druggings and robbings of Manhattan bar and nightclub patrons by criminal groups, assaults that left the city’s nightlife scene on edge.Police said in a statement that Jacob Barroso of New Britain, Connecticut, and Robert Demaio of the Brooklyn section of New York were charged with murder, robbery, identity theft and other crimes. Barroso was arrested Saturday and Demaio on Monday, and police said they also were looking for a third man in the case.The arrests were related to last year’s deaths of Julio Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker, in April and John Umberger, a 33-year-old political consultant visiting from Washington D.C., in May. Their deaths were the result of “drug-facilitated thefts,” the medical examiner’s office said.Police said the pattern involved slipping revelers dangerous levels of drugs to knock them out...

On India’s shore, rising salinity means daily water struggle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:25 GMT

KOCHI, India (AP) — Anthony Kuttappassera’s family has lived in the same house at the edge of the Arabian Sea for more than a century. He grew up drinking water from the pond and the well outside his home.But 60 years ago, that water became too salty to drink. Then it grew too salty for bathing or washing clothes. Now, the pond is green, buggy and nearly dry — just like the rest of the wells and ponds in the Chellanam area of Kochi, a city of about 600,000 people on India’s southwestern coast.Rising seas from climate change are bringing saltwater into the fresh water of places like Chellanam, rendering unusable what had been a vital part of everyday life. And frequent breaks in the pipelines that bring fresh water from inland exacerbates the misery for residents in this village of about 8 square kilometers (3 square miles), requiring water to be trucked in.Each truckload of water has to be poured into barrels and buckets and carried by hand to the village’s 600 hou...

Washington state man pleads guilty in Jan. 6 insurrection

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:25 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Washington state man accused of entering the U.S. Capitol with a pro-Trump mob during the Jan. 6 deadly insurrection has pleaded guilty to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. Jeffrey Grace, 64, entered the plea on Monday and had three other charges dropped as part of a plea agreement, KGW-TV reported. Grace could face up to six months in prison for the misdemeanor crime when he is scheduled for sentencing in August. Grace’s son, Jeremy Grace, pleaded guilty to the same charge and had three others dropped last year and was sentenced to 21 days in prison and supervised release.Court records say both went to Washington, D.C., in January 2021 to attend a rally in support of then-President Donald Trump. They traveled and stayed at a hotel with a member of the Proud Boys identified as “Travis” in court documents.The three men attended a gathering of the Proud Boys on Jan. 5, prosecutors said in court documents.On Jan. 6, the father and son j...

Homes destroyed, 4 reported dead from Papua New Guinea quake

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:25 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — An earthquake in a remote region of Papua New Guinea killed four people and destroyed more than 300 homes, local media reported, as disaster relief officials worked to further assess damage Tuesday.The magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck in a remote region early Monday, causing deep fissures in the land near the epicenter at Chambri Lake in the northern part of the Pacific nation.The region is marked by swamps and people tend to live subsistence lives hunting and fishing, Mathew Moihoi, the acting assistant director of the Port Moresby Geophysical Observatory, told The Associated Press. Because of the region’s remoteness and patchy communications, it could take several days to figure out the extent of the damage, he said.Citing local officials, the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier newspaper reported four people had died and at least 17 more people were injured after the quake caused damage in 23 villages around the epicenter Moihoi said he’d heard repor...

'The next second, I was buried alive:' Survivors of Apollo Theater collapse return to Belvidere

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:25 GMT

BELVIDERE, Ill. — Violet Munoz was one of the 260 people attending a heavy metal concert at the Apollo Theater last Friday night when an EF-1 tornado tore through."You could hear screaming," Munoz said. "I didn't know if the world was ending, or it was a tornado."Damage from the storm caused so much damage, the roof of the theater came crashing down, killing at least one person, while also injuring more than 40 others.Munoz was hospitalized and returned to the theater Monday to collect her jacket that was left behind in the chaos."I was pulled from the rubble by my boyfriend Eric Biel," Munoz said. "He's a hero and everyone in there, they rallied together." Gov. JB Pritzker visits Apollo Theater after deadly tornado hits Belvidere Genie Beers was inside the building with her sons when the tornado hit."It was just screaming and panic and my first thought was where's my mom?" Beers' son said.Beers said she was standing front row when the roof began to collapse."I drove by yesterday ...

Lori Vallow: Jury selection begins in Idaho slain kids' trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:25 GMT

(NewsNation) — Until November 2019, the names of Lori Vallow and her husband Chad Daybell weren't widely known. That all changed two days before Thanksgiving, when Lori Vallow's two children, Joshua "JJ" Vallow and soon-to-be 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, went missing in Idaho. Tylee and JJ's remains were later found on Chad Daybell's property. Now, Lori Vallow is on trial. Jury selection started Monday at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho. The unhinged family dynamic started two years earlier when Lori Vallow, a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints — and once described as a patient, wonderful mother — started reading and studying books by author Chad Daybell.These books were about preparing for the end of the world. Cult experts say Daybell, who followed a group called "Preparing a People," took the organization's teachings to another extreme. He would talk about "zombies" and souls leaving bodies. "What Chad Daybell taught his followers was that there...

Bill passes Texas Senate that would crack down on catalytic converter thieves

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:25 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Texas Senate passed a bill on Monday that would issue harsher penalties for people involved in catalytic converter thefts."This has become a very violent crime, a very sophisticated crime," said Texas Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, one of the bill's authors. The legislation puts stricter punishments in place for individuals even found in possession of catalytic converters. PREVIOUS: Texas lawmakers hope their effort could stop catalytic converter thefts "There's no good reason you should be in possession of a catalytic converter, and the presumption should be that it was stolen because this is not a victimless crime," said Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston. People who are in possession of the car parts for legitimate business reasons would be exempt. The legislation also aims to specifically stop crime rings that target the car parts by making it a first-degree felony for anyone involved with possessing more than $300,000 worth of converters. If suspects are ...

John Shipley: Wild proving there’s nothing wrong with being grinders

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:25 GMT

When this space last visited Xcel Energy Center, the home team was trounced by the Vegas Golden Knights, 5-1, and holding onto the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.It wasn’t difficult to see why.After relying on a potent offense to earn a franchise-best 113 points, a mark that included 25 come-from-behind wins, the Wild were playing like a team with an offense capable of rallying for 25 victories.The Wild still aren’t that team, yet since that Feb. 9 loss, the Wild were on a 17-3-5 tear when they played host to Vegas on Monday night. In fact, they’re actually scoring less during this hot streak — averaging 2.96 goals over their past 25 games against 3.03 a game in the first 51.That’s because they’re giving up 2.2 goals a game in those 25 games. There was a lot made of the fact that after in early February, the Wild ranked 28th among the NHL’s 32 teams in even-strength goals. Well, guess what? They still do, yet they started Monday night’s game first in the Central Di...

Wild fall to Golden Knights in a shootout despite solid effort

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:25 GMT

The rematch was 48 hours in the making after the Wild dropped what they felt was a winnable game to the Vegas Golden Knights over the weekend.In the end, though, the Wild suffered a 4-3 shootout loss to the Golden Knights, which, in turn, is going to make winning the Western Conference incredibly tough.With the result, the Wild (44-23-10, 98 points) are now five points back of the Golden Knights (48-22-7, 103 points) with a week and a half to go.It was a slow start for the Wild as they lacked energy in the first period, culminating with Golden Knights winger Keegan Kolesar making it 1-0.Not long after that, Matt Boldy absorbed a reckless hit from Golden Knights winger Brett Howden along the boards, and Joel Eriksson Ek immediately rushed to his defense.Though the Wild ended up on the penalty kill, the sequence seemed to pull them into the fight.That poured over into the second period and Brandon Duhaime promptly tied the game at 1-1 with a nice individual effort. The pressure contin...

Crews prepare for next round of potential severe weather

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:25 GMT

ST. CHARLES COUNTY, MO. - Emergency management operations are making preparations Monday ahead of another round of potentially severe weather on Tuesday.“We get resources ready to deploy out in case we need them in the field," said Capt. Chris Hunt, director of St. Charles Regional Emergency Management. "We have personnel on call to deploy rapidly out to the community. There are several ways that we alert the public. The National Weather Service alerts the public through their app and also the warning sirens that we have deployed around the county.”He said to make sure your cell phone is fully charged, and the volume is turned up. Top story: Timeline of severe weather near St. Louis Tuesday “At nighttime, those sirens are not designed to be heard inside. Most of us can hear them inside, but that’s not what they’re designed for," Hunt said. "We ask that the public make sure that the settings on their cell phones allow them to get notifications during severe weather."A spokesperson ...