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California governor signs law raising taxes on guns and ammunition to pay for school safety

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:19 GMT

By ADAM BEAM (Associated Press)SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California will ban people from carrying firearms in most public places while doubling the taxes on guns and ammunition sold in the state under two new laws Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Tuesday that will test the limits of the U.S. Supreme Court’s new standard for interpreting the Second Amendment.The federal government already taxes the sale of guns and ammunition at either 10% or 11%, depending on the type of gun. The law Newsom signed adds another 11% tax on top of that — making California the only state with a separate tax on guns and ammunition, according to the gun control advocacy group Brady.The money will pay for security improvements at public schools and a variety of gun violence prevention programs, including those geared toward young people in gangs. The money from the federal tax, which has been in place for more than 100 years, pays for wildlife conservation and hunter education programs.The laws w...

John ‘Zip’ Connolly’s medical parole survives as brother of victim slams Florida board

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:19 GMT

A fed-up Steve Davis ripped the Florida parole board for allowing disgraced ex-FBI agent John “Zip” Connolly to remain free to take convalescent walks.“It’s not right. It’s corrupt. It’s frustrating,” Davis scolded the board Tuesday. “That piece of garbage! … I just can’t believe the state of Florida.”Davis has fought for victims’ rights ever since his sister, Debra, was reportedly slain by Southie mobster James “Whitey” Bulger in 1981 – when Connolly was Whitey’s FBI handler.“I completely don’t understand it,” Davis told the Florida Commission on Offender Review, which voted 2-1 to allow Connolly to remain in Lynnfield.“It’s been two-and-a-half years since he’s been released. … I asked if he was dead yet. I thought he only had six months to live,” Davis said, alluding to a doctor saying the onetime G-man was terminally ill.“It seems like Florida is lying in bed with him,” Davis added. “He acted like he was Godfather … I got a li...

Who is Anthony Rota, the Speaker of the House of Commons who is stepping down?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:19 GMT

OTTAWA — Anthony Rota has been jokingly dragged to the Speaker’s chair by the prime minister and the leader of the Opposition twice, in what is a long-standing parliamentary tradition.The second time, in 2021, MPs thanked him for his fairness and leadership in the House of Commons during the COVID-19 global pandemic — and for how he managed all the unprecedented challenges that upended how Parliament normally operates. On Tuesday, about two years later, Rota delivered his resignation, effective at the end of the day on Wednesday.Until Friday afternoon, the Speaker was considered a highly respected Speaker on both sides of the political aisle. But on that day, he invited a Ukrainian veteran who fought for the Nazis to the House of Commons to witness a speech by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and lauded the man as a Canadian and Ukrainian hero.Rota apologized to the House on Monday amid international criticism over the incident. “I don’t think I̵...

Less-redacted report on Maryland church abuse still redacts names of church leaders

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:19 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — Maryland’s attorney general released some previously redacted names in its staggering report on child sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore on Tuesday, but the names of five Catholic church leaders remained redacted amid ongoing appeals, prompting criticism of the church by victims’ advocates.While the names of the high-ranking church leaders already have been reported by local media, the director of the Maryland chapter of Survivors of those Abused by Priests said he was disappointed, but not surprised that resistance continues to fight against transparency and accountability, despite what church leaders say. “Once again, it just shows that the Church is not doing what they say they’re doing,” said David Lorenz, the leader of SNAP’s Maryland chapter. “They’re just not. They’re not being open and transparent, and they should be, and they claim to be.” Lorenz said he questioned whether the names in the report would ever be made publi...

Suspect, aged 13, charged with calling in bomb threat to Hamilton school

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:19 GMT

Hamilton police say a 13-year-old child has been arrested after allegedly calling a school and making a bomb threat. Police say the teen called Mount Albion Elementary School on September 26. “The call was traced back from the school to a local address, where a youth admitted making the threat,” police said in a release.Hamilton police said bomb threats have been an ongoing issue, with 16 incidents across the city since September 21, 2023.

Defendant in Michigan fake elector case seeks dismissal of charges over attorney general’s comments

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:19 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — One of 16 Michigan Republicans accused of taking part in a fake elector scheme filed a motion Tuesday asking a judge to dismiss charges after the state attorney general said the group had been “brainwashed” and truly believed that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election.All 16 are facing eight criminal charges, including forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery, that were first announced in July by state Attorney General Dana Nessel. Investigators allege that they met following the 2020 election and signed a document falsely stating they were Michigan’s “duly elected and qualified electors.”President Joe Biden won the state by nearly 155,000 votes, a result that was confirmed by a GOP-led state Senate investigation in 2021. Michigan is one of seven states where false Electoral College certificates were submitted declaring Trump the winner, despite confirmed results showing he had lost.On Sept. 18, Nessel, a Democrat, told a liberal gr...

Delaware trooper facing felony charges involving assaults on teens after doorbell prank at his house

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:19 GMT

DOVER, Del. (AP) — A Delaware State Trooper is facing several felony charges involving a brutal assault on a teenager who targeted the trooper’s house in a prank.An indictment issued Monday against Trooper Dempsey R. Walters, 29, includes the first use by prosecutors of a new felony deprivation of civil rights law that was passed in Delaware last year.Walters, who has been suspended without pay, also is charged with felony assault, two counts of misdemeanor assault and two counts of official misconduct. He turned himself in Tuesday afternoon and was released from custody after posting bail in the amount of $29,000. An attorney representing Walters did not immediately return a telephone message Tuesday afternoon. The court docket indicates that Walters waived reading of the indictment and pleaded not guilty.According to authorities, Walters, who has been a trooper for more than six years, was off duty and returning to his Lancaster Village residence in Elsmere on Aug. 17 when he enco...

Nygard lured victims to bedroom suite at Toronto headquarters, Crown alleges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:19 GMT

Warning: This story contains graphic content some readers might find offensive. Discretion is advised.Former Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard leveraged his wealth, assets and status over several years to lure young women and girls to a top-floor bedroom suite at his company’s Toronto headquarters where he forced himself on them, Crown lawyers alleged Tuesday as arguments at his sexual assault trial got underway.Nygard invited all five complainants in the case — whose identities are protected by a publication ban — to visit his custom-built office building under pretences ranging from tours to job interviews, with all the encounters ending in the bedroom suite, the Crown said. There, he sexually assaulted them at different times, sometimes trapping or intoxicating them, the Crown alleged in opening arguments.“Five women, it took them years to come forward. 1 Niagara St., a custom-design office building with huge letters on the front: Nygard. The Toronto headquarters of...

Peter Nygard lured victims to bedroom suite at Toronto headquarters, Crown alleges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:19 GMT

TORONTO — Note: This story contains graphic content. Former Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard leveraged his wealth, assets and status over several years to lure young women and girls to a top-floor bedroom suite at his company’s Toronto headquarters where he forced himself on them, Crown lawyers alleged Tuesday as arguments at his sexual assault trial got underway. Nygard invited all five complainants in the case — whose identities are protected by a publication ban — to visit his custom-built office building under pretences ranging from tours to job interviews, with all the encounters ending in the bedroom suite, the Crown said. There, he sexually assaulted them at different times, sometimes trapping or intoxicating them, the Crown alleged in opening arguments. “Five women, it took them years to come forward. 1 Niagara St., a custom-design office building with huge letters on the front: Nygard. The Toronto headquarters of a fashion empire,” assistant Crown attor...

Police identify three fishermen who died after boat sank off northeastern Quebec

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:19 GMT

BLANC-SABLON, Que. — Quebec provincial police have identified the three fishermen who died after their boat sank off of Quebec’s Lower North Shore early Monday morning.Provincial police spokesman Sgt. Hugues Beaulieu said the three men were Yves Jones, 65, Dean Lavallée, 53, and Damon Etheridge, 36, all from Blanc Sablon, Que., about 1,300 kilometres northeast of Montreal.He said the two men and one woman rescued after the Silver Condor sank are expected to survive. Beaulieu said police are no longer investigating the incident, adding that “it’s bad weather that caused the sinking.”The deaths have rocked the community of around 1,100 people on Quebec’s eastern border with Labrador. “The people of the Lower North Shore have been dealt a devastating loss,” I&S Seafoods, a seafood wholesaler in nearby Rivière-Saint-Paul, Que., posted on its company Facebook page. “Our fishing community mourns the loss of the Silver Condor, its captain...