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B.C. replaces Surrey Police Board with administrator over troubled transition

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

VICTORIA — The British Columbia government has appointed an administrator to act in place of the Surrey Police Board and assist the city’s troubled transition from the RCMP to a municipal force.Mike Farnworth, minister of public safety and solicitor general, says all members of the Surrey Police Board have been suspended and he’s appointed former Abbotsford chief constable Mike Serr to take over all their duties.Farnworth says he acted because of a “lack of progress” from the City of Surrey in the transition to the Surrey Police Service. Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke, who chairs the board, has opposed the transition and has previously accused Farnworth of bullying and misogyny against her.Farnworth says the decision is not a reflection on the board members who would eventually resume their duties, and he thanked them for their “incredible” work.The minister says he informed Locke of his decision and they had a “good, cordial conversation.”“I think thi...

Toronto private school teacher facing sexual assault charge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

A Toronto private school teacher has been arrested and charged with the alleged sexual assault of one of his 18-year-old students.On October 31, 2023, authorities were called to TAIE International Institute, an international private school located in the area of Church Street and Carlton Street. Police said the accused was a teacher at the school where he taught the 18-year-old female victim and that in July 2023, the teacher sexually assaulted the young woman.On November 2, 2023, investigators charged 48-year-old Hossein Alizadeh with sexual assault. He’s scheduled to appear in court on January 4, 2024.Police said Alizadeh was employed at TAIE International Institute as a teacher between 2018 and 2023.Investigators are concerned there may be more victims.

Second arrest made in Halloween weekend shooting in Tampa that killed 2, injured 16 others

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A second person was arrested Thursday in a Tampa, Florida, mass shooting that erupted during Halloween festivities, leaving two dead and 16 injured, police said.A 14-year-old boy was arrested in Palm Beach County and was waiting to be transported back to Tampa, police said in a news release. He faces felony charges of being a minor in possession of a firearm while wearing a mask and carrying a concealed firearm. “There is no reasonable explanation for a 14-year-old to be in possession of a firearm,” Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a statement.An argument between two groups led to the shooting in the early morning hours of Oct. 29 in Tampa’s Ybor City area, police said. Later that day, detectives arrested Tyrell Stephen Phillips, 22, in connection with the shooting. He was charged with second-degree murder with a firearm. The early morning fight occurred in an area with several bars and clubs that was once the center of Tampa’s cigar industry. In more r...

2 environmentalists who were targeted by a hacking network say the public is the real victim

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Two environmentalists told a federal judge Thursday that the public was the real victim of a global computer hacking campaign that targeted those fighting big oil companies to get the truth out about global warming.A climate scientist and the director of a fund that creates initiatives to address climate change spoke at the sentencing of an Israeli man who prosecutors said enabled the hacking of thousands of individuals and entities worldwide.Aviram Azari, 52, of Kiryat Yam, Israel, was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for his role in a global computer-hacking network that authorities say targeted environmentalists, companies and individuals.“I was the target, but the public at large was the intended victim,” said Peter Frumhoff, director of science and policy and chief scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Cambridge, Massachusetts.“It is our job to tell the world the truth about a world on fire” and who “lit the flame,” said Lee Wasserma...

Skilling: Possible showers, windy start to weekend for Chicagoland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

It was Day #4 consecutively in Chicago at or above 60-deg.  Today's 66-deg high is the 3rd warmest Nov 16th high on the books going back all 153 years since 1871.It was the warmest Nov 16th here in Chicago in nearly half a century---since a 67-deg high on this date back in 1975----48 years ago!The only warmer Nov 16's have been 67 in 1975 and 70-deg in 1896.  The places today in the 2% warmest Nov 16's on the books since 1871 here.A cold front passes overnight and ushers much cooler air into the area for daytime Friday.  And while weekend temps will make it into the low and mid 50s, they'll be markedly cooler than the comparatively "warmth" Chicagoans have experienced most of this work week.Some cold frontal showers which are to develop over Illinois in the overnight hours past midnight may linger into the opening few hours of Friday.  But clearing follows Friday and a beautiful sun-filled weekend is on the way but with cooler temps. While daytime highs will actually ...

Thieves steal car in Memphis, return it to owner the next day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) --- Police are on the hunt for two men they say are responsible for stealing a car out of a driveway in Memphis, but it's what happened next that has police and neighbors happily perplexed. This victim may be the luckiest unlucky man ever because the car he thought he would never see again showed up again the next day.  At least 23 injured after CTA train crash on North Side: CFD Surveillance video obtained by WREG shows the moment a man pulled up to his friend's home on Parkrose Avenue and got out of his black Mercedes. Moments later, two men cross the street and get in the car. The victim walked over, looking confused, until one of the men pulled a gun and pointed it at him as he ran, jumped down in the bushes, and hid.The thieves took off in the car up the road.  All of this happened right across the street from a school just before 11 a.m. on Thursday. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland spoke with WREG earlier ...

Illinois releases monarch butterfly license plates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

CHICAGO -- Illinois residents can finally get their long-awaited monarch butterfly specialty license plate.State lawmakers made the announcement on Thursday saying it makes good on promise they made in 2016 after they passed legislation to create the state's first universal specialty plate. The move was aimed at limiting the number of specialty license plates. Snoop Dogg says he’s giving up smoking weed By 2018, more than 2,000 residents had pre-ordered the monarch butterfly specialty license plates.The funds will go towards protecting the endangered monarch butterfly from extinction as part of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources' Roadside Monarch Habitat Fund.For more information on the Illinois monarch butterfly license plates, click here.

Indiana judge says Richard Allen had access to Delphi documents all along and wasn't hindered

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

CARROLL COUNTY, Ind. — The special judge assigned to the Delphi murders investigation has responded to the Indiana Supreme Court and said that Richard Allen's claim of not having access to all documents related to the case has no merit and that he has not been hindered in any way from accessing them. Previously, the original attorneys for Richard Allen — Andrew Baldwin and Bradley Rozzi — filed several motions with the Indiana Supreme Court after they were removed from the murder case by Gull in the aftermath of an evidence leak. The lawyers asked the Supreme Court to review Gull's handling of the case and accused her of violating public access by keeping some filings a secret along with claiming she hasn't provided Allen with complete access to all the documents involved in the case. Judge in Delphi murder case faces deadline to produce transcript of closed-door meeting Gull responded on Thursday by saying that Allen and his attorneys were incorrect and had complete access to al...

Illinois electric vehicle rebate program out of funds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

CHICAGO -- The Illinois Electric Vehicle Rebate Program has reportedly run of out of funds for the latest rounds just weeks after opening.Illinois Environmental Protection Agency officials said that the number of application received for the Electric Vehicle Rebate Program has already surpassed the $12 million approved by the state. ORIGINAL: Illinois to offer rebates for electric vehicle buyers The funds were intended to last multiple application cycles and cover the entire 2024 fiscal year.Moving forward, the state said the program will prioritize applicants that qualify as "low-income." The maximum rebate is $4,000.

Austin ISD says it caught up on helping 200+ special ed students. It happened in 12 days

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Austin Independent School District said on Thursday it met one of the first deadlines the Texas Education Agency set out to fix the district’s special education system.The school district has been under the watch of a state-appointed monitor since September. The board of trustees voted 8-1 to accept the deal from TEA after state investigators found the district repeatedly failed to evaluate students suspected of needing special education services on time.  In a letter to parents, the district said it met TEA’s Oct. 31 deadline to evaluate students who had been waiting since the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school year. District officials also said they created education plans for all those students. At 15, she needs special education and homebound services to learn. For weeks, she got neither But according to data previously provided by TEA and AISD, it would mean the district created education plans for more than 239 students in a matter of 12 days.The district report...