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Prosecutors seek the death penalty against man accused of slaying of 4 University of Idaho students

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

By REBECCA BOONE (Associated Press)BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Prosecutors say they are seeking the death penalty against a man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death late last year. Bryan Kohberger, 28, is charged with four counts of murder in connection with the deaths at a rental house near the Moscow, Idaho, university campus last November. Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson filed the notice of his intent to seek the death penalty in court on Monday. A not-guilty plea was entered in the case on Kohberger’s behalf earlier this year. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Tuesday. The bodies of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were found on Nov. 13, 2022, at a rental home across the street from the University of Idaho campus. The slayings shocked the rural Idaho community and neighboring Pullman, Washington, where Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminology at Washington State University.Police released few de...

Orioles prospects Jackson Holliday, Heston Kjerstad to play in MLB All-Star Futures Game in Seattle

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

The roads that Jackson Holliday and Heston Kjerstad have taken to this point in their careers couldn’t be more different.Holliday, the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft, has dominated in his first year of professional ball to zoom up prospect rankings. Kjerstad, meanwhile, missed the first two years of his career after being drafted No. 2 overall in 2020 with heart and hamstring ailments, only to reemerge in the past year and zoom through Baltimore’s minor league system.Despite their differences, the two prospects will share a field next month to represent Baltimore at the 2023 MLB All-Star Futures Game — a showcase of the sport’s top minor league talent.For Holliday, the Futures Game nod comes less than 24 hours after he moved up to No. 1 on MLB Pipeline’s prospect ranking Sunday night. Between Low-A Delmarva and High-A Aberdeen, the 19-year-old is slashing .325/.463/.532 — good for a .994 OPS — with 27 extra-base hits, 20 stole...

Jordan Westburg’s time arrives as Orioles promote No. 4 prospect to majors: ‘I embrace the challenge’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias often speaks of his desire to see prospects “graduate Triple-A” in terms of performance before promoting them to the majors. Jordan Westburg’s cap and gown at last came Monday.After more than a year of strong performances with Triple-A Norfolk, the Orioles called up Westburg, a 24-year-old infielder Baseball America ranks as the No. 4 prospect in the organization and No. 46 in the sport, before Monday night’s game against the Cincinnati Reds.Before batting seventh and playing second base in his major league debut, Westburg said the wait wasn’t something he concentrated on. It showed in his play, displaying the consistency that has earned him the nickname “Captain” from other Orioles minor leaguers. In 158 games with the Tides across the past two seasons, Westburg hit .283/.366/.533 with 36 home runs and 128 runs driven in.“I trusted that it was going to come,” Westbu...

Woman airlifted from cruise ship off San Diego coast

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A 57-year-old woman was medically airlifted Saturday from the cruise ship Carnival Radiance, located about 35 miles southwest of Point Loma, according to the United States Coast Guard.Around 4:30 p.m., Coast Guard Sector San Diego Joint Harbor Operations Center received a call from the cruise ship about the woman showing symptoms of a stroke. The quality of life conditions that worsened in San Diego last year: study The Coast Guard helicopter crew, as well as a San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Special Tactics and Rescue Team onboard, responded to the scene to take the patient to the San Diego coast.She was then transported to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla in stable condition, authorities said.

Mexico arrests former official in disappearance of 43 students in 2014, charges 8 soldiers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico said Monday it has arrested the former head of a federal anti-kidnapping unit in connection with the disappearance of 43 students in 2014. Gualberto Ramírez was head of the anti-kidnapping unit for the attorney general’s office when the students from the Ayotzinapa teachers college in southern Mexico went missing. Assistant Interior Secretary Alejandro Encinas wrote that Ramírez faces charges of disappearance, torture and conspiracy for the botched investigation into the abductions, which are defined as “disappearances” under Mexican law because only remains of three of the victims have been identified. Security forces abducted the students from buses in the city of Iguala on Sept. 26, 2014, and turned them over to a local drug gang, which apparently killed and burned them.Encinas also wrote in his Twitter account that eight soldiers detained in the case last week have been charged by civilian prosecutors with disappearance. The soldiers are being held in a...

James Meredith risked his life doing civil rights work. At 90, he says religion can help cut crime

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — James Meredith knew he was putting his life in danger in the 1960s by pursuing what he believes was his divine mission: conquering white supremacy in the deeply, and often violently, segregated state of Mississippi.A half-century later, the civil rights leader is still talking about his mission from God. In recent weeks, he made several appearances around his home state, urging people to obey the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule in order to reduce crime. On his 90th birthday on Sunday, Meredith said older generations should lead the way.“Old folks not only can control it — it’s their job to control it,” Meredith told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday after an event honoring him at the Mississippi Capitol. Meredith is a civil rights icon who has long resisted that label because he believes it sets issues such as voting rights and equal access to education apart from other human rights.During the event, Meredith fell while trying to stand and ...

NYC will add Diwali as a public school holiday. But there’s a catch this year

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City will add the festival of Diwali to the list of public school holidays in recognition of the growth of the city’s South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities, Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday.Diwali, known as the festival of lights, happens October or November, depending on the lunar calendar.However, this year it falls on Sunday Nov. 12 — meaning the 2023-2024 school calendar will not be affected by the change.City officials say more that 200,000 New York City residents celebrate Diwali, which is observed by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and some Buddhists.“This is a city that’s continuously changing, continuously welcoming communities from all over the world,” Adams said in announcing that Diwali will join celebrations including Rosh Hashana and Lunar New Year as a day off for students. “Our school calendar must reflect the new reality on the ground.”The new holiday will become official if Gov. Kathy Hochul, also a Democrat, signs a bill passed by the New...

As Toronto readies for Collision conference, some wonder how much it brings to city

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

TORONTO — When the global tech community descends on Toronto next week for the Collision conference, there will be chatter about the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, which many predict is poised to disrupt all sectors of the economy, and the wave of layoffs that has shaken the industry.But between appearances from AI leader Geoffrey Hinton and executives from Airbnb, Amazon Web Services and Google’s AI researcher Deep Mind will be another hot topic: the value and future of the event itself.The travelling conference run by Irish parent company WebSummit is designed to unite startups, investors and business heavyweights over four days of mingling and discussions about technology. This year will mark Toronto’s fifth time playing host after the event extended its stay when the COVID-19 pandemic forced it online for two years. The event, previously held in New Orleans, announced another Toronto extension until 2024 on Tuesday.It has yet to name its host city for 2025, but rem...

Work begins to clean up train derailment in Montana’s Yellowstone River

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Work is underway to clean up rail cars carrying hazardous materials that fell into the Yellowstone River in southern Montana after a bridge collapsed over the weekend, officials said Monday.Montana Rail Link is developing a cleanup plan and is working with its unions and BNSF Railway to reroute freight trains in the area to limit disruption of the supply chain, Beth Archer of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality said in a joint statement issued by Montana Rail Link and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.Contractors and a large crane were on site to stabilize and remove cars from the river once a plan is set, officials said.Some rail cars that did not go off the tracks were removed from the area, and two cars carrying sodium hydrosulfide had their contents transferred to other cars and moved to safety, Archer said. Sixteen cars derailed, and 10 of them ended up in the river downstream from Yellowstone National Park Saturday morning. Six mangle...

Luis Robert Jr. gets an MLB honor as he makes case for All-Star Game

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

CHICAGO — While the White Sox haven't been able to turn their bad start around early this summer, one of their young players has done so quite well in doing so.Luis Robert Jr.'s performance over the past week earned him a first from Major League Baseball on Monday - and could help him get another first in a few weeks.The center fielder was named the American League's Player of the Week over the course of six games from June 19-25. It's the first time he's been given a weekly award by the MLB as he continues his strong performance over the next two months. Robert sported a slash line of .444/.524/1.111 with four homers and 5 RBI during the six-game stretch, including two homers in a win over the Red Sox on Sunday. He also tied the game against Boston on Saturday with a home run, which the White Sox would go on to win 5-4. It continues a strong month of June for Robert, who is hitting .295 with five doubles, eight homers and 12 RBI. During the month of May, he hit .310 with nine doubl...