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Florida floods: Airport reopens as residents clean up mess

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:29 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Fort Lauderdale’s airport reopened Friday morning, two days after an unprecedented deluge left planes and travelers stranded, as residents in the city’s hardest hit neighborhoods began the slow process of cleaning up the mess left behind.Officials at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport completed final inspections after sunrise Friday and resumed operations at 9 a.m. In a tweet Friday morning, airport officials advised travelers to check with their airlines on updated flight schedules before going to the airport. The airport shut down Wednesday evening as a storm dumped more than 2 feet (60 centimeters) of rain.“Nature has been unkind to us,” Broward County Mayor Lamar Fisher said during a news conference Thursday afternoon at the airport.While it started raining on Monday in South Florida, much of the water fell Wednesday, and the Fort Lauderdale area saw record rainfall amounts in a matter of hours, ranging from 15 inches (38 cen...

Capitol rioter who crushed officer with shield gets prison

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:29 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man who used a stolen riot shield to crush a police officer in a doorframe during the U.S. Capitol insurrection was sentenced on Friday to more than seven years in prison for his role in one of the most violent episodes of the Jan. 6 attack.Federal prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of 15 years and eight months for Patrick McCaughey III, which would have been the longest sentence for a Capitol riot case by more than five years. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden sentenced McCaughey to seven years and six months in prison followed by two years of supervised release. The judge described McCaughey, 25, as a “poster child of all that was dangerous and appalling about” the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.“Your actions are some of the most egregious crimes that were committed on that dark day,” the judge told McCaughey.McCaughey, of Ridgefield, Connecticut, expressed shame for joining the mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters who “violated” the Capitol. ...

Police trying to identify person found dead in Toronto stairwell

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:29 GMT

Toronto police are trying to identify a victim that was found dead in a midtown stairwell.Officers were called to the Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue area around 6 p.m. on April 2.It’s reported that an individual was found dead in a stairwell with no identification. Police did not say whether they were treating the person’s death as suspicious.The victim is described as having curly hair, longer on top, and shorter on the sides.They were wearing jean shorts, grey jogging pants, grey, white and blue sneakers, a blue and black jacket, and had a red and white bag.Police said an investigation revealed that this person was at an ATM near 2346 Yonge Street on March 31, 2023, at 8:50 p.m.An artist’s rendition was provided by Toronto police, and security footage was also released in an attempt to identify the victim.

Colorado governor to sign abortion, transgender care bills

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:29 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is scheduled to sign a set of health care bills Friday afternoon to enshrine access to abortion and gender-affirming procedures and medications, as the Democrat-led state tries to make itself a safe haven for its neighbors, whose Republican leaders are restricting care.The goal of the legislation is to ensure people in surrounding states and beyond can go to Colorado to have an abortion, begin puberty blockers or receive gender-affirming surgery. Bordering states of Wyoming and Oklahoma have passed abortion bans and Utah has prohibited transgender care for minors.With the new laws, Colorado joins Illinois as a progressive bastion for reproductive rights surrounded mostly by conservatives states. Illinois abortion clinics now serve people living in a 1800-mile (2900-kilometer) stretch of 11 Southern states that have largely banned abortion. California and New York are considering similar bills after the U.S. Supreme Court knocked dow...

In first, Iran’s president addresses Palestinians in Gaza

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:29 GMT

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Iran’s president on Friday delivered an unprecedented speech to an annual pro-Palestinian rally in the Gaza Strip — a rare display of Iran’s importance to the Hamas militant group that rules the territory. Speaking virtually to hundreds of supporters of Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group gathered at a soccer stadium in Gaza City, Iran’s conservative President Ebrahim Raisi urged Palestinians to press on with their struggle against Israel. His speech — the first of its kind to Palestinians — appeared to culminate years of quiet diplomacy aimed at mending a rift between Hamas and its long-time patron, Iran, over the devastating civil war in Syria. Raisi addressed the crowds of Palestinians on the occasion of “Jerusalem Day,” or al-Quds Day after the city’s Arabic name, which falls on the final Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. In his speech, Raisi struck a hard line against the Palestinian Authority’s recent bilateral...

Russia’s Pacific Fleet placed on high alert for snap drills

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:29 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — The entire Russian Pacific Fleet was put on high alert Friday for snap drills that will involve practice missile launches, in a massive show of force amid tensions with the West over the fighting in Ukraine.Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the goal of the war games was to test the capability of Russia’s armed forces to mount a response to aggression.Along with the missile launches, the drills will also involve nuclear-capable strategic bombers and other warplanes besides the naval aviation of the Pacific Fleet, Shoigu said.The Defense Ministry declared that areas in the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk, the Peter the Great Bay of the Sea of Japan and the Avacha Bay on the southeastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula would be closed for sea and air traffic for the duration of practice torpedo and missile launches and artillery exercises.The ministry said that Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin briefed foreign military attaches about the drills, emphasi...

NBA fines team for what they did against the Bulls in April

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:29 GMT

NEW YORK — A team's actions in a late-season game against the Bulls have earned them a hefty fine from the NBA.The Mavericks were fined $750,000 for sitting about a few key players against the Bulls on April 7 when a Western Conference play-in spot was on the line. @WGNNews pic.twitter.com/1wtfltN35E— Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) April 14, 2023The Dallas Mavericks were penalized $750,000 after they were found to have intentionally held out key players with a potential Western Conference play-in spot on the line on April 7.Because of that, the Bulls were able to win 115-112, eliminating the Mavericks from playoff contention and assuring themselves of a lottery draft selection.Naturally, the league frowned upon such a move since they discourage teams from openly losing to improve their place in the draft order, so an investigation was launched shortly after the game. Per a new release from the league, they found that Dallas "demonstrated through actions and public statement...

$1 million lotto winner in Chicago south suburb

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:29 GMT

OAK FOREST, Ill. — If you bought an Illinois Lotto ticket at a BP gas station in Oak Forest Thursday, you may be a millionaire.A winning ticket matched all six numbers in the Lotto Million 1 drawing for April 13. They were: 25 - 27 - 28 - 36 - 38 - 44. It was sold at the BP at 5548 W. 159th St. Oak Forest, IL 60452.Since it was a second-chance drawing, the main Lotto jackpot has grown in size once again and now stands at $13.5 million for Saturday's drawing. Mother charged after 1-year-old girl found dead in 2017 house fire in Markham This is the second Lotto millionaire this month after a Lotto Million 2 ticket match on April 1. That one was purchased online.Illinois’ “Lotto” game was revamped in 2021 with the addition of two drawings, providing three total chances to become a millionaire with every $2 ticket purchased. The actual jackpot can only be won in the first draw, however the two subsequent draws come with a $1 million payout for matching all six numbers.Lotto is only pl...

Drake Bell tweets after being reported missing in Florida

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:29 GMT

NEW YORK (WPIX) — Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell spoke out on social media Thursday night, hours after he was first reported missing and later determined to be safe.Bell took to Twitter just after 6 p.m., saying “You leave your phone in the car and don’t answer for the night and this?”That morning, Police in Florida had issued an alert for Bell, saying he was last seen on Wednesday just before 9 p.m., in the area of Mainland High School in Daytona Beach.“He is considered missing and endangered,” the department wrote on Facebook. Police later said Bell was determined to be “safe” and in contact with Florida officials as of Thursday afternoon. A representative for the Daytona Beach PD did not share any further details. Walt Disney World annual passes go back on sale this month In his tweet on Thursday, Bell did not elaborate on his whereabouts or the circumstances surrounding that morning's alert.Bell, whose legal name is Jared Drake Bell, is perhaps best known for sta...

'Hell of a scare': Matthew McConaughey opens up about Lufthansa flight on Kelly Ripa podcast

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:29 GMT

Editor's note: The above video is from when the flight happened in March. AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila were on the Lufthansa flight from Austin to Germany that experienced severe turbulence and had to make an emergency landing in Washington D.C. last month. Lufthansa flight 469 dropped nearly 4,000 feet, and seven people went to the hospital, Camila said in an Instagram post. She said everything was flying everywhere, and the plane was chaos. ‘4,000-foot drop’: Matthew, Camila McConaughey on flight with severe turbulence This week, Matthew McConaughey opened up about the experience on an episode of Kelly Ripa's podcast "Let's Talk Off Camera." He called it a "hell of a scare.""You're suspended... disbelief. I mean, it's zero gravity. Your red wine in the glass and the plates that your food was on are all suspended floating still just in the air," McConaughey explained. "And to look at it for that long, which was about, one, two, three, four... and...