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Latest GOP 2024 hopeful DeSantis ‘blazing a trail’ on book bans in Republican-controlled states

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:20 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AP) — As he vies for the Republican presidential nomination, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is touting a series of measures he has pushed that have led to an upswing in banned or restricted books — not just in Florida schools but in an increasing number of other conservative states.Florida last year became the first in a wave of red states to enact laws making it easier for parents to challenge books in school libraries they deem to be pornographic, deal improperly with racial issues or are in other ways inappropriate for students.Books ensnared in the Florida regulations include explicit graphic novels about growing up LGBTQ+, a children’s book based on a true story of two male penguins raising a chick in a zoo and “The Bluest Eye,” a novel by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison that includes descriptions of child sexual abuse. Certain books covering racial themes also have been pulled from library shelves, sometimes temporarily, as school administrators try to assess wha...

Oath Keeper who stormed Capitol gets more than 8 years in prison in latest Jan. 6 sentencing

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:20 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Army veteran who stormed the U.S. Capitol in a military-style formation with fellow members of the Oath Keepers was sentenced Friday to more than eight years in prison, a day after the far-right extremist group’s founder received an 18-year prison term in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack. Jessica Watkins, of Woodstock, Ohio, was acquitted of the seditious conspiracy charge that Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was found guilty of in November, but jurors convicted her of obstruction and conspiracy to impede Congress’ certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. She is the third member of the antigovernment group to receive her punishment this week in one of the most serious cases the Justice Department has brought in the riot. Rhodes’ 18 year-term is the longest sentence that has been handed down so far in the hundreds of Capitol riot cases. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said that while Watkins was not a top leader, like Rhodes, she was more...

Iowa law limits gender identity instruction, removes books depicting sex acts from school libraries

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:20 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa teachers will be banned from raising gender identity and sexual orientation issues with students through grade six, and all books depicting sex acts will be removed from school libraries, under a bill signed into law by Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. Her office announced Friday that the bill was signed. The law is among similar measures that have been approved in other Republican-dominated statehouses around the country. As with many of those proposals, Iowa Republicans framed their action as a commonsense effort to ensure that parents can oversee what their children are learning in school and that teachers not delve into topics such as gender and sexuality.Despite the opposition of all Democratic legislators, Republicans who hold large majorities in Iowa’s state House and Senate approved the measure in April and there was little doubt that Reynolds would sign it; she had made issues related to gender identity and sexuality a focal point of her...

Killer whales damage boats in Spanish, Portuguese waters in puzzling new behavior

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:20 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A pod of killer whales repeatedly rammed a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar this week, damaging it enough to require Spanish rescuers to come to the aid of its four crew members.It was the latest episode in a perplexing trend in the behavior of orcas populating the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula that has left researchers searching for a cause.Spain’s Maritime Rescue service said that killer whales repeatedly ran into the Mustique, a 20-meter (65-foot) vessel sailing under a U.K. flag, late on Wednesday, rendering its rudder inoperative and cracking its hull. Spanish rescuers needed to pump out seawater before towing her to safety.The alert reached the Spanish service via their British counterparts, who had relayed on the distress call, the Spanish service said. A helicopter and a rescue boat were deployed to help the damaged boat to dock in Barbate.This was the 24th such incident registered by the service this year. The service didn’t provide d...

No trace of boat with 500 migrants, rescue group says after an alarm sparked Mediterranean search

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:20 GMT

ROME (AP) — A day after searching a stretch of the Mediterranean Sea, an Italian humanitarian group said Friday that its rescue vessel found no trace of a boat said to be in distress and carrying 500 migrants, including a newborn. The vessel “Life Support found no wreckage of any shipwreck, and the 500 persons didn’t disembark in Italy,” the nongovernmental organization Emergency said in a written statement from Milan. ”It’s hard to believe that no coastal authority knows where those 500 persons are.”Emergency raised the possibility that the migrants were brought back to Libya, the launching point for many of the smugglers’ unseaworthy boats that aim to bring migrants to Italy’s shores. The group’s statement said that Libyan authorities so far were denying it brought the passengers back to Libya, where many migrants spend months in inhumane conditions in detention camps, often enduring beatings or rape, until they or families back in their homelands can...

Minister: Chevron ‘positive’ about Israeli-Cypriot plans for natural gas pipeline, processing plant

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:20 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Oil and gas company Chevron is “positive” about an Israeli-Cypriot plan for a pipeline that would convey offshore natural gas from both countries to Cyprus where it would be liquefied for export by ship to Europe and elsewhere, an official said Friday.Cypriot Energy Minister Giorgos Papanastasiou said after talks with visiting Chevron Vice President for Exploration and Production Frank Cassulo that the company also wants to hear the views of other energy firms attending a gathering next week where the Cypriot government will formally pitch the plan in order to secure investor backing.Chevron has presented the Cypriot government with a plan to develop its Aphrodite deposit in waters south of the island, first discovered in 2011 and estimated to contain 4.2 trillion cubic feet of the hydrocarbon.Papanastasiou also pointed to recent statements by a senior ExxonMobil executive who said the oil and gas company is interested in Israeli-Cypriot plans. ExxonMobil hold...

Skilling: Warm, dry Memorial Day weekend, 90s likely next week

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:20 GMT

An early read on model temp and precip trends over the coming two weeks indicates a dry, warm Memorial Day Holiday weekend.There is also development of atmospheric blocking aloft which will slow weather system movement across the Lower 48These predicted meteorological developments support a forecast of a rain-free Memorial Day holiday weekend with a warming weekend temp trend.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog Projections of dry conditions suggest warm days--but comparatively cool nights for the holiday. Daily lake breezes--i.e. Cool easterly winds off Lake Michigan across area beaches and in lakeside locations---are a part of the predicted pattern.15-DAY PRECIP FORECAST through June 8--including an indication where predicted precip totals are ABOVE NORMAL (in shades of green) and BELOW NORMAL (in shades of yellow, orange and red). Graphic courtesy of MAXARAlso indicated is the likelihood of below normal 15 day precip over the Midwest even though scattered...

A special week for a Palatine native & Cubs outfielder

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:20 GMT

CHICAGO — The chance for a player to take the field for a hometown team is rare, but it's one a native of the northwest suburbs finally got to have this week.Cubs outfielder Mike Tauchman, who grew up in Palatine and played for Fremd High School, got his chance to play at Wrigley Field for the first time during the homestand. He got the start in all three games against the Mets, doing so in center field, as he finally got the chance to take the field at the Friendly Confines. He'll be in the starting lineup on Friday when the Cubs open up a three-game series with the Reds at Wrigley Field at 1:20 p.m. Tauchman, who was an All-American at Bradley University, debuted with the Rockies in 2017 and played with the Yankees and Giants since then, but had never gotten the chance to play at Wrigley Field. In 2019, he played three games at Guaranteed Rate Field as a member of the Yankees. Signed to a minor league contract to begin the season, Tauchman was called up to the big league club on M...

High school has 12 sets of twins, triplets graduating 

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:20 GMT

VERNON HILLS, Ill. (WGN) — The senior class at Vernon Hills High School, in Vernon Hills, Illinois, may have locals seeing double (or triple) as several twins and even triplets are set to graduate on Thursday. Heath Field (L) and Hunter Field (R) talk to Nexstar's WGN. (Photo/WGN)Heath and Hunter Field are among a unique group of students walking across the stage. "There’s 12 sets of twins, one set of triplets and 27 people. That’s a lot," Hunter said."It's kind of crazy," added student Evan Moore. "I didn’t realize we had this many twins."Anagha Shreesha, also a twin, thinks the occurrence is "really unique."Together, the 27 seniors account for about 8% of the school's class graduating class of over 330.     Indiana disciplines doctor who discussed 10-year-old rape victim’s abortion "I think the neat thing about twins, in general, is they can celebrate their uniqueness in one another while also having this special bond and special comradery," said Vernon Hills High School Princip...

Passenger opens airplane door mid-flight; 12 slightly hurt

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:20 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A passenger opened an emergency exit door during a plane flight in South Korea on Friday, causing air to blast inside the cabin and slightly injure 12 people, officials said. The plane landed safely.Some people aboard the Asiana Airlines Airbus A321 aircraft tried to stop the person, who was able to partially open the door, the Transport Ministry said.The person was detained by airport police on suspicion of violating the aviation security law, a ministry statement said. The person's identity and motive weren't immediately released.The law bars passengers from handling exit doors and other equipment on board and provides for penalties of up to 10 years in prison, the ministry said. Traveling this summer? Expect big prices and big crowds The plane with 194 people aboard was heading to the southeastern city of Daegu from the southern island of Jeju. The flight is normally about an hour, and the incident occurred when the plane was reaching the Daegu airport...