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Prison sentences for political activists who defrauded Polish Red Cross to fund election campaign

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A Polish court has convicted nine people, including two former activists of the governing Law and Justice party, of using donations to the regional Red Cross to fund an election campaign. The court in the city of Wroclaw estimated the scam cost the Red Cross some 3 million zlotys ($660,000).The court sentenced the former head of the Wroclaw regional Red Cross, identified only as Jerzy G., to three years and five months in prison. His deputy, Piotr B., received a sentence of two years and seven months. Both were activists for Law and Justice, serving as a regional councilor and a lawmaker respectively. They have also been ordered to refund the money and pay fines. Others received prison terms of between 12 and 18 months, two of them suspended terms. The verdict is subject to appeal.The court found them guilty of selling clothes and food donated to the Red Cross in order to funnel money to Law and Justice for its regional campaign during the 2015 parliamentary el...

‘True heroism:’ Biden honors 9 with Medal of Valor including 2 NYPD cops killed during 911 call

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two New York Police Department officers ambushed and killed after responding to a 911 call and the rookie cop who took down the gunman were honored Wednesday, along with six others, by President Joe Biden with the Medal of Valor, the nation’s highest honor for bravery by a public safety officer. The three NYPD officers, a Houston police officer, Colorado police official, Ohio sheriff’s deputy and three FDNY firefighters all received medals in a White House ceremony before Biden departs for Japan and the Group of Seven summit.“I don’t know all of you, but I do know you,” Biden said. “From small towns to big cities, you’re cut from the same cloth. You run into danger when everyone else runs away from danger.”Biden told the crowd the award was given for “actions above and beyond the call of duty,” singling out the families of the officers to thank them. NYPD officer Wilbert Mora and his police partner Jason Rivera were shot Jan. 21, 2022, while respo...

Former senior judges to have last word on disclosure of sensitive laboratory records

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

OTTAWA — Three former senior judges will have the final say on the public disclosure of documents related to the firing of two scientists from Canada’s highest-security laboratory.The Liberal government says former Supreme Court justices Ian Binnie and Marshall Rothstein, along with Eleanor Dawson, who sat on the Federal Court of Appeal, will assist an ad hoc committee of MPs reviewing the records.Opposition parties believe the documents will shed light on why scientists Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, were escorted out of Winnipeg’s National Microbiology Laboratory in July 2019 and subsequently fired in January 2021.They also want to see documents related to the transfer, overseen by Qiu, of deadly Ebola and Henipah viruses to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology in March 2019.The MPs on the committee are Liberal Iqra Khalid, Conservative John Williamson, René Villemure of the Bloc Québécois and the NDP’s Heather McPherson.Each of the four parties...

Movie Review: A delicious Jason Momoa saves ‘Fast X’ from furiously speeding off into numbness

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

Fans and critics may disagree over when exactly the “Fast & Furious” franchise jumped the shark, but there is only one correct answer: When the Pontiac Fiero went into space.Weightless and violating every physical law, the floating car — tasked with bumping a satellite in the ninth installment — was the very symbol of how bloated and crazed the once-plucky series had become. There really was no way down after that.And yet we have come to 10, part of a planned series of films finally saying goodbye. “Fast X” is, thankfully, shackled to Earth’s gravity — sometimes tenuously, it must be said — but it has become almost camp, as if it breathed in too much of its own fumes.“Fast X” reaches into the fifth movie — 2011’s “Fast Five” — for the seeds to tell a new story. In a memorable moment five movies ago, Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto wrecked a bad guy and his team on a bridge in Rio de Janeiro. Little did we know then, but that bad guy had a son who survived and now, years lat...

Ukrainian artist painting historic section of Uptown 'en plein air'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

CHICAGO — A Chicago-based artist from Ukraine is busy painting one of Uptown's most historic sections.Zhanna Biletska has been painting for over 20 years and doesn't take too long to create a masterpiece.The Ukrainian, who came to Chicago in 2013, specializes in the French style "en plein air" — which means painting outside with the subject in full view.From CloudGate to the Chicago Theatre to Rogers Park's beaches — Biletska's busy as a professional artist since returning from basic training for the U.S. National Guard in 2020 — which she joined to speed up her citizenship.Lately, Biletska has started working on one of the most historic streets in all of Chicago — Uptown's Castlewood Terrace.Chicago was known as one of the early epicenters of the silent film industry. Due to the Essanay Film Company, several stars, including Charlie Chaplin, lived in the neighborhood.The street contains 26 homes built between 1897 and 1927. In 2009, Castlewood Terrace was added to the National Regi...

What's the 'best' home improvement store?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — Where do you go when it's time for home repairs? New data from J.D. Power shows America's got a favorite. For the fifth consecutive year, Ace Hardware has topped J.D. Power's U.S. Home Improvement Retailer Satisfaction Study. To determine the highest customer satisfaction, J.D. Power surveyed 2,728 customers who purchased home improvement-related products from a retailer between December 2022 and March 2023. Stores were ranked on a 1,000-point scale weighing in-store experience, merchandise, price and more. These are the top 10 U.S. summer destinations on Airbnb Of the stores listed, Ace Hardware was the only home improvement retailer to earn a score higher than the study average of 851.StoreScoreAce Hardware873Lowe's849The Home Depot849Menards839Ace Hardware — known as "the place with the helpful hardware folks," per its famous jingle — was founded in 1924 in Chicago and currently has over 5,000 stores around the globe, the company says. New Orleans woman trades Tay...

Grand jury indicts Bryan Kohberger

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

(NewsNation) — A grand jury has indicted Bryan Kohberger on charges connected to the deaths of four Idaho college students. In December, prosecutors announced he was facing four counts of first-degree murder and burglary, though it's not immediately clear what charges the grand jury indicted him on Wednesday.Prosecutors took the case against Bryan Kohberger before a grand jury instead of going through with an initially scheduled preliminary hearing. In criminal cases, both procedures can be used to determine whether or not the prosecution has sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against someone. Kohberger, a graduate student studying criminal justice in Washington, was accused of stabbing four Idaho college students to death in November. Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were found stabbed in an apartment near the University of Idaho. Mogen, Goncalves and Kernodle lived in the apartment with two other roommates, while Chapin, Kernodle's boyfrie...

WATCH: Distressed dolphin calf rescued by off-duty deputy in Florida

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A newborn dolphin was given a second chance at life thanks to the quick thinking of an off-duty deputy in Florida.The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office’s said the mission of its Maritime Operations Unit "is to make sure all are safe on the water. On May 10, MarOps corporals were called to assist a different resident: A dolphin calf."Officials said an off-duty deputy was fishing off the coast of Hudson, Florida, when he discovered the hours-old dolphin alone and in distress. The deputy called PSO’s MarOps unit, which rushed the dolphin 30 minutes south to meet with members of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Pause on student loan payments about to end for millions The young dolphin was ultimately transferred to SeaWorld Rescue, which said the male dolphin was in critical condition. Since its rescue, the dolphin has been showing signs of improvement and swimming on his own."We’re proud of the swift actions of our deputies, both on and off duty," the sheriff's ...

TCSO reports in-custody death after multi-vehicle collision

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Wednesday, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office provided details surrounding a death in custody Sunday following a multi-vehicle collision on Farm-to-Market 969.TCSO reported deputies responded to the area of 10100-10506 FM 969 Road at approximately 4 p.m.“When deputies arrived, citizens were attempting to gain control of, and assist a male driver identified as 26-year-old Jose Jacobo Melgar-Menjivar, who appeared to be in an altered mental state on the scene,” TCSO said.Melgar-Menjivar was detained by TCSO deputies who determined he needed medical treatment, and he was handed into the care of Austin-Travis County EMS.“During treatment, he suffered a medical emergency that required CPR,” TCSPO said.According to a release, the resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, and Melgar-Menjivar was pronounced dead at 5 p.m.TCSO said one person was also transported to a nearby hospital following the crash.The release said the Texas Department of Public Safety w...

Which Austin roads are scheduled for improvements this summer?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austinites could see plenty of activity on their neighborhood roads this summer, as the city's Transportation and Public Works Department gears up for a series of local roadway improvements.A slew of city roads will undergo preventive street maintenance to "improve the roadway surface and lifespan of roads," per a Public Works Street Maintenance Map. Depending on the weather, improvements are expected to be done between May and October, a TPW spokesperson confirmed in an email. However, a spokesperson added wet weather has delayed the program's start by a few weeks, adding residents will receive both 30-day and three-day notices prior to the start of work in their neighborhood.What kind of roadway improvements are planned?Austin's TPW Department relies on five primary treatment types as part of its preventive maintenance:Sealcoat: A thin layer of asphalt and water mixture is placed on pavement, with a thin layer of small gravel then added on top. This is designed to...