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Autopsy finds cause of death for Irvo Otieno was asphyxia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Irvo Otieno, a 28-year-old Black man whose death last month at a Virginia mental hospital has led to second-degree murder charges against 10 deputies and hospital employees, died of “positional and mechanical asphyxia with restraints,” a medical examiner’s office said Monday. Arkuie Williams, the administrative deputy in the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, confirmed the findings to The Associated Press after attorneys for Otieno’s family first shared them in a statement. The manner of death was homicide, Williams wrote in an email. Otieno, who struggled with mental illness, died March 6 after he was pinned to the floor while being admitted to Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County. Video released earlier this month showed sheriff’s deputies and hospital employees restraining a handcuffed and shackled Otieno for about 20 minutes after he was forcibly led into a hospital room. For much of that time, Otieno was prone on the floor, pinned...

North Dakota teachers can still use transgender students’ pronouns after lawmakers fail to override governor’s veto

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota teachers can still use transgender students’ pronouns after lawmakers fail to override governor’s veto.Source

Maine ice disk on frozen lake measures 541 meters across

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

MADAWASKA, Maine (AP) — Volunteers cut a big ol’ circle in a frozen lake and set it in motion, reclaiming a world record in a category that few people know exists: The biggest ice carousel.With a diameter of 1,776 feet — or 541 meters — the giant piece of ice estimated at 146,000 tons moved slowly like a Lazy Susan to hoots, hollers and high fives on Saturday.Northern Maine Ice Busters had to cut through ice nearly 30 inches thick on a path painstakingly measured by survey crews to create a perfect circle measuring nearly six football fields across. It’s a laborious-but-fun way to provide entertainment during the long, cold winter, and it has turned into something of a rivalry in places like Finland, Minnesota and Maine. There’s even a World Ice Carousel Association.“It’s a friendly competition,” said John Mazo, media liaison for the Northern Maine Ice Busters.On Saturday, it took a herculean effort to get the giant disk moving with 10 outboard boat engines, farm e...

Finland doubling NATO’s border with Russia in blow to Putin

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The blue-and-white Finnish flag rises outside NATO headquarters Tuesday afternoon, making Finland a member and doubling Russia’s border with the world’s biggest security alliance.The move is a strategic and political blow to President Vladimir Putin, who has long complained about NATO’s expansion toward Russia and partly used that as a justification for his country’s war with Ukraine.“What we see is that President Putin went to war against Ukraine with a declared aim to get less NATO,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. “He’s getting the exact opposite.”Like all NATO members, Finland will benefit from the collective security guarantee that an attack on one is considered an attack on all.NATO has said that it has no immediate intention to step up its presence in Finland. Some members have deployed troops there for war games over the last year. Russia immediately warned that it would bolster forces near Finland if NATO sends any additional troops or equipmen...

S&P 500 wavers as OPEC move stokes inflation fears

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stock markets around the world are mixed Monday, as a jump in oil prices threatens to add upward pressure on inflation. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% in afternoon trading after shifting between small gains and losses earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 293 points, or 0.9%, at 33,568, as of 2:36 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% lower. Oil jumped roughly 6% after Saudi Arabia and other crude-producing countries said over the weekend they would cut production. That lifted stocks of energy companies, including a 5.8% rise for Exxon Mobil, 10.1% leap for Marathon Oil and 4.3% gain for BP. While the jump in oil helps energy producers, it also weighs on much of the rest of the market. That’s because it dents one of the main themes that helped stocks rise in this year’s just completed first quarter: that turmoil in the banking system and a continued slowdown in inflation could push the Federal Reserve to ease its hikes to interest r...

Businessman gets 8 years in prison for theft of COVID funds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut businessman who conspired with a now-former state lawmaker to steal federal coronavirus relief funds from the city of West Haven was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison for his role in the scheme.A federal investigation found John Trasacco, 50, had conspired with former state Rep. Michael DiMassa to submit fraudulent invoices from two companies Trasacco controlled for goods and services never provided. The list included thousands of items of personal protection equipment, billings for heating and air conditioning maintenance at several municipal buildings, COVID-19 supplies for the school board, and cleaning services for various city and school buildings, including one building that had been vacant and abandoned for years. Federal prosecutors determined Trasacco’s companies received approximately $431,982 from the scheme. A jury found Trasacco guilty on Dec. 2 of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Omar...

Starbucks fires Buffalo worker active in unionization effort

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

Starbucks has fired one of the workers who helped kick off a unionization effort at the company.Lexi Rizzo, an eight-year Starbucks employee and shift supervisor, was fired from her store in Buffalo, New York, on Friday. Starbucks Workers United, the union organizing Starbucks’ workers, said Rizzo was fired after arriving a few minutes late for work. It claims the firing was retaliation for Rizzo’s vocal support of the union.Rizzo was one of the workers who first reached out to labor organizers in 2021 to unionize Starbucks stores. Since then, at least 294 of Starbucks’ 9,000 company-owned U.S. stores have voted to unionize, according to the National Labor Relations Board. Seattle-based Starbucks opposes the unionization effort.Starbucks said Monday that Rizzo was fired for “repeated and substantial violations” of its attendance policy, including one instance where she arrived more than three hours late for a shift. Starbucks said it had documented six instances in which Rizzo...

Hard cleanup: Montana train derailment spills beer and clay

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

PARADISE, Mont. (AP) — Crews could face a difficult cleanup task after a 25-car train derailment spilled powdered clay and cases of beer beside a scenic western Montana river, leaving some cars off the tracks in a narrow, century-old tunnel with limited access, officials said.“It’s a terrible spot to get in and out of,” Bill Naegeli, manager for Sanders County Disaster and Emergency Services, said of the derailment on the Clark Fork River. “The biggest issue is the cars derailed inside the tunnel” with little clearance.Montana Rail Link has said nobody was hurt and no hazardous materials spilled Sunday morning in the derailment that left some cars precariously close to the banks of the river and some slightly dipping into the water in the mountainous area.Seven cars are believed derailed in the narrow tunnel where it will be hard to extricate them, Naegeli said.The train derailed Sunday across the river from Quinn’s Hot Springs Resort in Paradise, spilling the clay and cases of Coor...

How can you protect your garden from Denver's upcoming storm?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Spring is technically here, but that does not stop the cold and snow from coming to the Front Range.With the weather as spring-like as it was in March, you may have been tempted to get an early start on your spring garden this year. Timing, totals for Pinpoint Weather Alert Day Tuesday Tuesday will be a Pinpoint Weather Alert Day, with around a half-inch of snow anticipated and temperatures staying in the upper-30s Tuesday, according to Meteorologist Travis Michaels. With this weather on the way, how can you protect any new plants from a potentially harsh dip in temperatures and the frost that could come with it?Why is frost dangerous to plants?Cold temperatures and frost alone are not dangerous to plants.What is concerning, however, is when the temperatures of the plants drop low enough for ice crystals to form inside cells. Ice crystals are sharp and can puncture cell membranes, which injures the plant and potentially kills it.How to protect your plantsCover you...

Watch: Opening statements in Letecia Stauch's murder trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — Opening statements in the murder trial of Letecia Stauch, who is accused of murdering her stepson in 2020, begins Monday.Letecia, now 39, is accused of killing her stepson, 11-year-old Gannon Stauch. Gannon was reported missing in January 2020, and his disappearance sparked a nationwide search. On March 2, 2020, Letecia was arrested in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and then on March 18, 2020, Gannon's body was found in Florida. In the three years since Gannon's death, Letecia has changed her plea in the case. Originally, she pleaded not guilty, but then changed her plea to not guilty by reason of insanity in February 2022. First lady Jill Biden visits Colorado as part of national tour Letecia's trial began on March 20 with a jury selection, and those selected will be called back for Monday's opening statements. The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks. She faces 13 counts for allegedly killing Gannon, including first-degree murder, child abus...