North Carolina governor signs law clearing up several aspects of impending abortion law

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:38 GMT

North Carolina governor signs law clearing up several aspects of impending abortion law RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Last-minute revisions to North Carolina’s new abortion restrictions that take effect this weekend were signed into law on Thursday by Gov. Roy Cooper.The Democratic governor’s decision to act quickly on changes from the Republican-controlled legislature should minimize the immediate results from a pending legal challenge. Still, a federal judge might temporarily block parts of the law that before it goes into effect Saturday.A lawsuit by a physician and Planned Parenthood South Atlantic claims that sections in the restrictions were so vague and confusing that doctors feared unintentionally breaking the law, affecting their ability to care for women seeking abortions. Enactment of the clean-up language appears to make moot arguments about several provisions cited in the lawsuit. That’s according to lawyers for abortion providers, legislative leaders and the state, who spoke before U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles during a Wednesday hearing.Cooper ...

Man wanted on Jan. 6 charges arrested in former President Barack Obama’s Washington neighborhood

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:38 GMT

Man wanted on Jan. 6 charges arrested in former President Barack Obama’s Washington neighborhood WASHINGTON (AP) — A man wanted for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was arrested Thursday in the Washington neighborhood where former President Barack Obama lives, law enforcement officials said. Taylor Taranto, 37, was seen by law enforcement a few blocks from the former president’s home, and he fled even though he was chased by U.S. Secret Service agents. He has an open warrant on charges related to the insurrection, two law enforcement officials said. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing case and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. They said Taranto also made social media threats against a public figure. Metropolitan Police arrested him on charges of being a fugitive from justice. The explosives team swept Taranto’s vehicle. It wasn’t clear what, exactly, Taranto is accused of doing in the riot, where supporters of then-President Donald Trump smashed windows and beat and blo...

Canadian nurse Sue Johanson, whose TV appearances helped destigmatize sex, is dead at age 93

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:38 GMT

Canadian nurse Sue Johanson, whose TV appearances helped destigmatize sex, is dead at age 93 TORONTO (AP) — Sue Johanson, a nurse who became a popular TV sex expert in Canada and the United States when she was in her 60s, has died, her daughter said.Johanson died in Toronto on Wednesday at age 93 after a long decline, Jane Johanson said.Johanson’s straight talk about sexual practices earned acclaim across Canada and the United States.People delighted in calling in to “The Sunday Night Sex Show” and its American counterpart, “Talk Sex with Sue Johanson,” with questions about obscure acts and fetishes in hopes of shocking the matronly nurse, her daughter said.The real appeal, though, was her answers.“She really cared, earnestly and honestly,” Jane Johanson said. “If people were uncomfortable with something, she tried to put them at ease. If she felt that it was a very sensitive topic that needed to be dealt with carefully and gently, she would sometimes put a call off until the end of the show and talk to people privately.”Johanson wrote three books on sexuality and tou...

Dangerous heat and humidity is smothering much of the South and Midwest

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:38 GMT

Dangerous heat and humidity is smothering much of the South and Midwest As dangerous heat and humidity smothered parts of the South and Midwest on Thursday, local governments and charities worked to protect poor and elderly residents by opening cooling stations and delivering donated air conditioners. In Florida, where heat index levels of up to 112 degrees (44 Celsius) are forecast over the next several days, the Christian Service Center set up an “extreme heat cooling center” in Orlando for homeless people and others who don’t have access to air conditioning. “You or I complain about the heat or have to deal with it as we walk from our car to the grocery store or from our car to the air-conditioned office, but for the people we see here on campus, they wake up to that every day,” Bryan Hampton of the Christian Service Center told WESH-TV.The heat wave has contributed to at least 13 deaths in Texas and one in Louisiana. Forecasters said temperatures could rocket up to 20 degrees above average in some areas as a heat dome that has taxed the Texas ...

Photos: Coors Field covered in hail

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:38 GMT

Photos: Coors Field covered in hail DENVER (KDVR) — Hail pummeled Coors Field on Thursday as a severe thunderstorm rolled through the Denver metro area.The storm hit late in the afternoon, also bringing a heavy downpour that flooded roadways, including nearby Interstate 25 during rush-hour traffic. Live updates: Tracking severe weather in Denver area Thick hail covered the field and seats. Coors Field workers were filling buckets with the mixture of water and hail that blocked the dugout doors to the home clubhouse. See photos of the hail in the slideshow below.Heavy rain packing high winds and large hail sweeps over Coors Field in Denver on Thursday, June 29, 2023. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)Fans seek shelter in the enclave to the gates of Coors Field as heavy rain packing high winds and large hail sweeps over downtown Denver on Thursday, June 29, 2023. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)A service worker moves along the main concourse of Coors Field as the baseball diamond is obscured by heavy rain with high winds and lar...

Denver Fire dive team searches submerged car

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:38 GMT

Denver Fire dive team searches submerged car DENVER (KDVR) -- The Denver Fire Department conducted a search of a vehicle that was submerged in flood water just west of Interstate 25. DFD said the car was submerged near West 38th Avenue and Fox Street. Dive crews got in the high-standing water and searched the vehicle and confirmed there was no one trapped inside. The department is warning drivers not to take the chance of driving through standing water.

‘It was like out of rage’: Police arrest vandal seen smashing car and home windows in Hollywood neighborhood

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:38 GMT

‘It was like out of rage’: Police arrest vandal seen smashing car and home windows in Hollywood neighborhood Residents of a Hollywood community are concerned over a vandal who has been caught on camera destroying property and breaking into homes. Hollywood Police have identified the serial vandal as 25-year-old Samantha Caesar, who went on a crime spree around 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday.Area resident Nicole Cunningham said she was one of those who were targeted,“She must have had one, two, three, four, five and another one on Arthur Street,” she said.Unfortunately, Cunningham said, her car was not spared.“We looked in there, and there was a big coral rock, and somebody was like, getting in the small window, and when we looked in there, there was blood all on my car seat and everything,” she said. “Nothing was touched, nothing was stolen, just smashed. It was like out of rage or something.”Cunningham’s rear-seat window was completely shattered, becoming a major inconvenience for her since she is currently nine months pregnant with twins and is due any d...

Police seek public’s help in search for missing woman from Stoughton

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:38 GMT

Police seek public’s help in search for missing woman from Stoughton Police asked for the public’s help Thursday as they continued a search for a 31-year-old woman reported missing earlier this week.Police said Emma Tetewsky was last seen by her family on Sunday evening. She was then reported missing on Monday. A search has continued in recent days since Tetwesky’s disappearance, according to police, involving multiple agencies, a state police helicopter, drones, K9s and boats.Police said Tetewsky, who may also go by the name Fraidl Emett, stands about 5 feet, 3 inches tall, weighing 120 pounds. “She may be wearing a light-colored, possibly blue, long-sleeved shirt, cropped leggings and Birkenstock-style sandals,” police said. Police said Tetewsky “is known to have a history of mental health challenges.”Residents, police said, saw Tetewsky on Monday in the area of Lakewood Drive in Stoughton near Pinewood Pond.An additional possible sighting also happened on Wednesday near the Massapoag Trail in nearby Sharon, according to police.Polic...

MBTA Outlines Raft Of Summer Service Disruptions

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:38 GMT

MBTA Outlines Raft Of Summer Service Disruptions Segments of the Red Line will shut down early on seven nights in July to give workers more time for slow zone-related maintenance, and the Green Line faces a bevy of disruptions next month, MBTA officials announced Thursday.The T rolled out its latest monthly schedule of service changes, which in addition to substantial impacts on the Red and Green Lines features changes to the Orange Line and the commuter rail’s Kingston, Middleborough, Greenbush and Worcester Lines.Starting around 8:45 p.m. each night from July 11-13 and again on July 20, shuttle buses will replace trains between JFK/UMass and North Quincy Stations on the Red Line. Buses will also replace trains between JFK/UMass and Braintree Stations starting around 8:45 p.m. from July 21-23.Crews plan to “perform critical rail and tie replacement work that will alleviate speed restrictions” during those diversions, a T official said. MBTA data show about 24 percent of all Red Line tracks cannot safely support ...

Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman loses fan vote to Rangers’ Jonah Heim to start All-Star Game

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:38 GMT

Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman loses fan vote to Rangers’ Jonah Heim to start All-Star Game A catcher drafted by the Orioles will start the All-Star Game. It just won’t be the one currently on their roster.Texas Rangers catcher Jonah Heim topped Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman in the second phase of fan voting to be elected the American League’s starting backstop in next month’s Midsummer Classic at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park, Major League Baseball announced Thursday night. Heim, one of four Rangers who fans voted to start, was the Orioles’ fourth-round draft pick in 2013 and was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2016 for utility player Steve Pearce.The first overall pick in the 2019 draft, Rutschman was the only Oriole to be a finalist at his position. He won the first phase of fan voting by a comfortable margin, with his nearly 1.3 million votes roughly 320,000 more than Heim’s total. But those votes did not carry over to the second phase, where the top two finishers at each position (top six in the outfield) went head-to-head to determin...