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North Carolina Republicans enact voting changes that weaken governor’s ability to oversee elections

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:35:22 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republicans enacted vote-count restrictions and weakened the governor’s ability to oversee elections on Tuesday by overriding Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes — setting in place electoral policies the GOP sought entering the 2024 elections in the likely battleground state. In a series of votes, the narrow Republican supermajorities in the General Assembly overturned five Cooper vetoes, two of which address elections and voting in the ninth-largest state, where statewide races usually are very close. Cooper, fellow Democrats and others immediately filed lawsuits Tuesday challenging some of those laws.The electoral changes are among a wave of GOP election laws and administrative overhauls also occurring elsewhere while former President Donald Trump, who seeks a return to the White House, has repeatedly made false claims that the 2020 election was riddled with fraud. While Trump won North Carolina’s electoral votes in both 2016 and 202...

Black man was not a threat to Tacoma police charged in his restraint death, eyewitness says at trial

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:35:22 GMT

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Eyewitness testimony Tuesday in the continuing trial three police officers, who are white and Asian American, charged with the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man, starkly contradicted the picture the officers’ lawyers painted.Keyon Lowery, 26, told the jury in Pierce County Superior Court that Ellis didn’t act aggressively toward the Tacoma, Washington, police officers nor did he fight back, and that he was “no threat at all, none.”Lowery said he was in “disbelief” with how the officers acted and said he believed the officers “were in the wrong.”Tacoma Officers Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank, both white, are charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of Ellis on March 3, 2020. Officer Timothy Rankine, who is Asian American, is charged with manslaughter. All three have pleaded not guilty. They are free on bail and remain employed by the Tacoma Police Department on paid leave.The Pierce County Medical Examiner ruled t...

Israel-Hamas war will not immediately affect gas prices, analyst says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:35:22 GMT

While it is very much a secondary consideration given the violence in Israel this past weekend, a gas analyst says the conflict should not immediately affect gas prices.Roger McKnight, Chief Petroleum Analyst with En-Pro International, says no changes in the global market have yet been seen.“Everybody seems to be sitting on the sidelines to see what’s actually going to happen. Israel doesn’t have any gasoline or any crude oil inventories to worry about, but that whole neighbourhood is sort of a powder keg,” he told CityNews.Read More: Gas prices drop below 180.9/c per litre in Metro VancouverMcKnight acknowledges that the Israel-Hamas war is happening near major oil-producing countries, which could impact prices if they too get involved.When looking at the futures market, McKnight says there’s nothing to suggest a spike in pump prices is coming.“As it stands right now, there’s hardly any movement on the gasoline side that would indicate high...

Lidia becomes Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph winds, takes aim at Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta resort

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:35:22 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Lidia became an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 hurricane Tuesday with winds of 140 mph (225 kph) as it took aim at Mexico’s Pacific coast resort of Puerto Vallarta.The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tuesday that Lidia could continue to strengthen just hours before making landfall.The hurricane was expected to make landfall near Cabo Corrientes and then move inland just to the south of Puerto Vallarta, which could cushion the blow on the resort.Local authorities canceled classes in communities around the coast. The expected impact comes one day after Tropical Storm Max hit the southern Pacific coast, hundred of miles away, and then dissipated. Rains from Max washed out part of a coastal highway in the southern state of Guerrero.Lidia was centered Tuesday about 110 miles (175 kilometers) southwest of Puerto Vallarta, and was moving east-north-east at about 16 mph (26 kph).The hurricane center warned of possible flash flooding and storm surge from the hurrican...

Israeli village near the Gaza border lies in ruin, filled with the bodies of residents and militants

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:35:22 GMT

KFAR AZA, Israel (AP) — On the road approaching this rural village, the bodies of militants lie scattered between the shells of burned-out cars. Walls and doors of what used to be neatly kept stucco homes are blasted wide open. As bags holding the bodies of slain residents await identification, the smell of death hangs thick in the hot afternoon air.This is the scene confronting Israel’s military as it battles to beat back a sweeping assault launched by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, in fighting that has killed hundreds in this country left reeling and the adjoining Palestinian enclave under heavy Israeli bombardment.“You see the babies, the mothers, the fathers in their bedrooms and how the terrorists killed,” Maj. Gen. Itay Veruz, a 39-year veteran of the Israeli army who led forces that reclaimed the village from militants, said Tuesday as he stood amid the wreckage. “It’s not a battlefield. It’s a massacre.”The Israeli military led a group of journalists, including an Associated Pre...

Former Haitian senator pleads guilty in US court to charges related to Haiti president’s killing

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:35:22 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — A former Haitian senator pleaded guilty on Tuesday in the United States to charges related to the 2021 assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse. John Joel Joseph made his appearance at a Miami federal court and changed his plea after reaching an agreement with the government. Federal judge Jose Martinez set his sentencing for Dec. 19. Joseph faces a possible life sentence, but the U.S. government would recommend reducing it if he cooperates with the investigation, according to the 11th page plea agreement. The former senator was extradited from Jamaica to the U.S. in June to face charges of conspiring to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States and providing material support resulting in death, knowing or intending that such material support would be used to prepare for or carry out the conspiracy to kill or kidnap. Joseph, a very well known politician and opponent of the slain president’s Tet Kale party, is one of the 11 people facing charges ...

Man arrested after shooting at Chicago police officers in Englewood

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:35:22 GMT

CHICAGO — A man was arrested Tuesday afternoon after shooting at Chicago police officers in Englewood, according to police.Officers were called around 2:45 p.m. to the 6100 block of South Wood Street to investigate the report of a suspicious person. Man arrested after climbing Accenture Tower in Chicago According to police, when officers tried to conduct an investigative stop, the man pulled out a handgun and fired a shot towards officers. A handgun was recovered at the scene.He was later arrested in the 6100 block of South Honore Street. No officers returned fire or were injured.Area One detectives are still investigating.

Suburban man killed in crash while allegedly fleeing police had duffel bags of marijuana in trunk: ISP

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:35:22 GMT

LAKE COUNTY, Ind. — A Chicago area man who Indiana State Police say died in a crash while attempting to elude troopers allegedly had two duffel bags of marijuana inside the vehicle. The driver of the Kia, Bryan I. Flores, 20, from Round Lake, was airlifted to a trauma hospital in Illinois following a high-speed crash in Lake County, Indiana.He was later pronounced dead. Charges filed against north suburban man accused of beating family member, hitting police K9 According to ISP, around 1:45 p.m. Monday, troopers pulled over a gray 2012 Kia Optima driven by Flores in the westbound lanes of Interstate 80/94 near the Lake Station exit. As an ISP trooper approached the vehicle, Flores allegedly drove off. The trooper did not pursue due to heightened traffic. About four minutes later, ISP learned of a crash involving the same Kia Optima. According to troopers, Flores' vehicle reportedly rear-ended a semi at a high rate of speed. Flores was ejected from the vehicle due to impact. Furth...

Delphi murder suspect's attorneys ask judge to deny prosecution's subpoena for medical, mental health records

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:35:22 GMT

CARROLL COUNTY, Ind. – Attorneys for Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen are asking the court to deny the prosecution access to their client’s mental health and medical records.In September, Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland subpoenaed Allen’s health records from his time in captivity. The subpoena sought the results of examinations and evaluations that Allen has undergone at Westville Correctional Facility since Nov. 3, 2022. Attorneys for Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen want search warrant evidence thrown out Allen faces two counts of murder in the deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German near the Monon High Bridge in February 2017. Indiana State Police announced his arrest in October 2022, more than five years after the killings.This week, his attorneys filed a pair of motions seeking to quash the subpoena request.The prosecution wanted the defense to turn over “any other documents, records, notes, videos and/or writings that the facility may have” pertaining to Allen...

Affidavit says man hit with hatchet before he was run over in north Austin

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:35:22 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- An affidavit obtained by KXAN Tuesday provided more details on what a witness said led to the death of a man in north Austin last week. Austin police identified a suspect who faces a capital murder charge in the case.On Oct. 3, the Austin Police Department responded to a report of a hit-and-run after a person was found on a sidewalk near the southbound lanes in the 12100 block of North MoPac Expressway Service Road. The location is between Parmer Lane and Duval Road.A detective with the APD homicide unit arrived on the scene, along with the Austin Fire Department, and found the man with severe lacerations to his neck and head, along with injuries that were “incompatible with life," according to the affidavit. One dead after reported hit-and-run in far north Austin The man was later identified by police as John Walker Oden, 53.Invstigators later determined that Oden's injuries were not from being struck by the vehicle, court records said.An autopsy by the Travis Co...