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6 women who went missing in Mexico were killed, burned

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Prosecutors in Mexico confirmed Friday that six women who went missing on March 7 were killed and their bodies burned by a gang of armed men. It was one of the largest collective killings of a group of women in recent years in Mexico.The women disappeared earlier this month on a road near the city of Celaya in the farming and industrial state of Guanajuato. Relatives had held out hope they might be found alive. But state prosecutor Carlos Zamarripa said Friday that experts had found skeletal remains “almostly completely burned” in raids on several properties Thursday. The amount of bone fragments found — Zamarripa said they were “hundreds” — suggests the women’s bodies were burned and the bones were ground up and scattered, a common drug cartel tactic.“They took the six women to Juventino Rosas, where they later killed them,” Zamarripa said. He said the motive for the killings was still under investigation.DNA tests matched five of the missing women, and mor...

'The Wire' star Lance Reddick dies at 60

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

Actor Lance Reddick, best known for his roles in "The Wire" and "John Wick" has died at the age of 60.Reddick died “suddenly” Friday morning, his publicist Mia Hansen said in a statement, attributing his death to natural causes. His death was first reported by TMZ.com.Reddick played the well-regarded police executive Cedric Daniels from 2002 to 2008 in the hit HBO show "The Wire." Ticketmaster gives partial refund, lower fees to Cure fans after Robert Smith’s crusade He also played Charon in the John Wick movie franchise in addition to several film and television roles. Reddick was currently on a press tour for the fourth installment of the movie, TMZ said.Other notable roles Reddick had were Detective Johnny Basil in "Oz", Phillip Broyles in "Fringe" and he was in four episodes of "Lost."He earned a SAG Award nomination in 2021 as part of the ensemble for Regina King’s film “One Night in Miami.”Reddick attended the prestigious Eastman School of Music, where he studied classical...

Bill passes House vote to make drivers on rideshare apps 'common carriers'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) -- A new change in the way Illinois views drivers for rideshare apps may be coming soon, even though both Uber and Lyft are strongly opposed. A bill in the state capitol would remove the exemption of drivers of rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft to be classified as "common carriers". Under a 2014 law, drivers working for companies like Uber and Lyft were exempt from the law. Companies that provide service with common carriers, such as bus drivers, train conductors, airline pilots and taxi drivers, have "vicarious liability": if a bus rider for an unsafe ride sues the driver, the bus company can also be found liable for employing an unsafe driver under Illinois law. The bill follows a recent high-profile Illinois court case. In Doe v. Lyft, a woman in Chicago was allegedly sexually assaulted by her Lyft driver. The woman sued the driver, Lyft, and the company used by Lyft for background checks, but Lyft argued since their drivers were defined by Illinois law n...

Florida textbook altered to remove references to Rosa Parks's race: report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

(The Hill) - A Florida textbook publisher removed all references of race from a lesson about civil rights icon Rosa Parks in order to get a Florida committee’s approval, according to The New York Times. Parks helped spark the Montgomery Bus Boycott after she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Ala., bus in 1955. In the current lesson by Studies Weekly, which is used in 45,000 elementary schools, the event is described: “The law said African Americans had to give up their seats on the bus if a white person wanted to sit down.” But in an early version created for Florida’s review by Studies Weekly, the lesson changed to: “She was told to move to a different seat because of the color of her skin.” In the group’s second updated version, race is removed completely from the lesson: “She was told to move to a different seat.”Studies Weekly also made changes to their fourth-grade lesson about segregation laws. DeSantis defends rejection of African Am...

Chance of snow for some to start the weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Despite afternoon sunshine, temperatures were mainly only in the 50s today after being in the 80s on Thursday. Thanks to the cold front that brought severe storms overnight we'll be staying cold through early next week.Tonight clouds will thicken back up as a disturbance approaches from the southwest. This will introduce the chance for rain and even some snow to parts of Central Texas. We think rain chances will favor areas south of Austin late tonight through Saturday. North of Austin should stay dry.As rain helps to cool the air early Saturday morning, temperatures in parts of the Hill Country may cool enough to see the rain turn over to snow. The latest trends in our computer models have shifted the higher snowfall chances farther southwest, but it's still possible some grassy coatings or dustings fall in the coldest of spots Saturday morning.This map shows you where we think snow is most likely. Road accumulations and travel impacts are unlikely as the snow woul...

Why homebuyers won’t get a break in 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

Zillow Chief Economist Skylar Olsen gazes at her MacBook the way a soothsayer peers into a crystal ball. The picture is murky.Despite falling prices, homes are more unaffordable than ever. Mortgage rates are fluctuating but look to rise. Demand is down, but so are listings.Tea leaves are easier to read.“It’s a great pause,” Olsen says of the current housing market. “Holding one’s breath. Suspended animation.”Olsen joined the online real estate firm’s research team in 2012, returning last summer as chief economist after a two-year break working as a consultant and at a startup.We spoke with Olsen during a recent visit to Zillow’s Southern California office in Irvine. We asked her about the current housing slowdown and prospects for priced-out home shoppers to get a crack at homeownership this year.Skylar Olsen is the Chief Economist at Zillow talks about the housing market at the company’s offices in Irvine, CA on Thursday, March 9, 2023. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Regis...

Eagle Street Grill to close at the end of April after 20 years in business

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

Eagle Street Grill, on the prominent downtown St. Paul corner of Kellogg and West Seventh streets, will close at the end of April.The restaurant has been serving fans of hockey and rock and roll before and after games and concerts for two decades. It opened in March 2003.The building owners, a trust headed by Sandra Iverson, decided not to renew the lease, representatives of Madison Restaurant Group, which owns Eagle Street, said.“It’s her building and she can do what she wants with it,” said Madison owner Jim Crockarell. “We’ve always made our payments on time — even through COVID — and have been a good tenant. We have taken care of the building. It’s unfortunate for the managers and the employees that are going to lose their job over something that really makes no sense at this point.”Iverson didn’t want to comment on what is coming next for the space.“I don’t have a signed lease at this point,” Iverson said. “We have lots of ideas and you’ll find out soon enough. What...

Lance Reddick, ‘The Wire’ and ‘John Wick’ star, dies at 60

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Lance Reddick, a character actor who specialized in intense, icy and possibly sinister authority figures on TV and film, including “The Wire,” ″Fringe” and the “John Wick” franchise, has died. He was 60.Reddick died “suddenly” Friday morning, his publicist Mia Hansen said in a statement, attributing his death to natural causes. His death was first reported by celebrity website TMZ.com.Reddick was often put in a suit or a crisp uniform during his career, playing tall taciturn and elegant men of distinction. He was best known for his role as straight-laced Lt. Cedric Daniels on the hit HBO series “The Wire,” where his character was agonizingly trapped in the messy politics of the Baltimore police department.“I’m an artist at heart. I feel that I’m very good at what I do. When I went to drama school, I knew I was at least as talented as other students, but because I was a Black man and I wasn’t pretty, I knew I would have to work my butt off to be the best that I ...

Closing the Gender Wage Gap

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

ALABANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)--According to an updated report by the State’s Labor Department, Women in New York made $88 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2021.https://nysdolreports.com/gwg/2023-gwgreport/"That figure is all women compared to white men the year before," explained Department of Labor Commissioner, Roberta Reardon. "The thing that’s really not so well known is women of color have much worse pay gaps. For Black American women, it is about 68 cents to the dollar and for Latina women in the United States, it’s 63 cents to the dollar."Commissioner Reardon said she thinks there is a lack of awareness and preconceived notions from decades ago that are contributing to the wage gap and added that childcare has an enormous impact. "We knew before the pandemic that childcare was an issue, but with businesses shutting down, women having to go home and take care of their children and do remote schooling at the same time, it already exasperated an already difficult question."While...

Officials call for Ardila to resign amid sexual assault allegations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) -- Governor Hochul along with some state lawmakers are calling on Democratic Assembly member Juan Ardila of Queens to resign after accusations of sexual assault. Ardila only took office this past January. "He is offering an apology… However, a lot of times an apology does not necessarily equate to accountability," said Amanda Rue, a sexual harassment prevention expert. According to The Queens Chronicle, two women have come forward with allegations stating that Ardila sexually assaulted them at a party in October of 2015. Eight years before he joined the Assembly. The online article also includes Instagram messages where Ardila apologizes to one of his victims in 2018. Rue says this is around the same time the Me-Too Movement was happening. "Every person that was in a position of power, started to reflect back like “Oh, have I made people uncomfortable?’ so he probably had that point of reflection, where it was like ‘Oh, I know that was probably inappropriate and ...