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Liam Andrews picks Penn State

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:58:00 GMT

BROOKLINE — As a small crowd congregated outside the Kraft Fieldhouse and Fusco Arena Friday, Liam Andrews felt a unique excitement. Maybe even some nerves.The Dexter Southfield football star was set to make his highly-anticipated college commitment. When the doors opened, a swath of his fellow teammates and friends approached, waiting with bated breath.After narrowing his long list of options to three schools, the four-star lineman chose Penn State.“It feels incredible,” Andrews said. “Like I mentioned about 50 times, this is a dream come true for me. Ever since I started playing football, it’s been my dream to play at the highest of levels. So, I’m shooting for the NFL, but the first stop is college ball. So, it’s a dream come true for me.”The commitment ends a long recruiting process that dates to Andrews’ sophomore year. Shortly after his transfer from Bishop Fenwick, Casey Day and his coaches at Dexter Southfield recognized they had a special talent. So did a few college scouts...

Activists and volunteers find four bodies in Tijuana clandestine grave site

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:58:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A group of volunteers and activists dedicated to finding the remains of missing persons discovered four bodies Thursday afternoon in an area east of downtown Tijuana.The group -- called Movement on Behalf of the Missing in Baja California -- said an anonymous tip led them to the site.They found the four bodies in the yard of an abandoned home on the side of a canyon, and they believe others are buried there too. Mexico urged to do more to stop fentanyl from crossing U.S. border Paula Sandoval, one of the activists, said the police and state investigators do little in terms of trying to locate missing people, especially long after they have disappeared.Sandoval added, authorities offer almost no assistance even after bodies have been found."There's more bodies here and we try to do our best, but sometimes the calendar is against us and we run out of time to look," said Sandoval. "For example, this area is dangerous and not safe, police don't provide us with any support...

City announces full closure of Dufferin Street Bridge for emergency repairs

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:58:00 GMT

The City of Toronto has announced the full emergency closure of the Dufferin Street Bridge.The southbound lanes of the bridge over the Gardiner Expressway have been closed since July 12 for repairs, but the City announced on Friday that the northbound lanes will also be closed to vehicles after additional damage was discovered.The City says the pedestrian sidewalk will remain open and cyclists can still dismount and walk across.The emergency closure, which stretches from Springhurst Avenue to Saskatchewan Road, is necessary to “ensure public safety” and repair the damage, the City said.“The City of Toronto will be updating the variable message signs, adjusting traffic signals in the area and deploying Paid Duty Officers if necessary to manage traffic,” a release states.Repairs to the bridge are slated to take up to two months.

Man who ambushed Fargo officers likely had bigger and bloodier attack in mind, attorney general says

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:58:00 GMT

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The heavily armed man who ambushed Fargo police officers investigating a fender bender last week likely had a bigger and bloodier attack in mind, with at least two fairs taking place at the time in and around North Dakota’s largest city, authorities said Friday.Mohamad Barakat killed one officer and wounded two others and a bystander before a fourth officer shot and killed him, ending the July 14 attack.Over the past five years, Barakat, 37, searched the internet for terms including “kill fast,” “explosive ammo,” “incendiary rounds,” and “mass shooting events,” state Attorney General Drew Wrigley said Friday during a news conference in Fargo, a city of about 125,000 people. But perhaps the most chilling search was for “area events where there are crowds,” which on July 13 brought up a news article with the headline, ”Thousands enjoy first day of Downtown Fargo Street Fair.”Had Officer Zach Robinson not killed Barakat, authorities said they shudder to t...

Capitol riot defendant gets probation after rare setback for prosecutors at Oath Keepers trial

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:58:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A security operations leader for the far-right Oath Keepers group — whose acquittal of conspiracy charges in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot marked a rare setback for prosecutors — was sentenced Friday to two years of probation. Michael Greene, of Indianapolis, was convicted on a misdemeanor trespassing offense after a trial in March, but cleared of more serious charges after telling jurors on the witness stand that he was not a member and didn’t tell anyone to go into the Capitol. Prosecutors had sought one year behind bars for Greene, but U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta sided with defense attorneys who argued for probation. He noted that Greene did not enter the building or have extensive participation in the group’s online chats, which grew increasingly violent before the riot. “We frankly don’t have a great deal of insight into what his political views were or what he thought about the election outcome,” Mehta said. Prosecutors described Greene as a “...

Colorado deputy won’t be charged for Tasing a man who was then hit and killed on interstate

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:58:00 GMT

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado deputy who deployed a Taser on a man who was then hit and killed by an SUV on Interstate 25 won’t face criminal charges, prosecutors said Friday.While Larimer County Deputy Lorenzo Lujan’s decision to use the Taser on Brent Thompson after he ran away as the deputy tried to arrest him in February showed “poor judgment” and possibly the need for more training, 8th District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin said it was not likely a jury would find Lujan criminally negligent and convict him.According to McLaughlin’s letter summarizing the investigation into Thompson’s death, Thompson pulled off at an I-25 exit after Lujan turned on his patrol car’s lights. But after Lujan told Thompson he was under arrest, he ran down an embankment toward the highway.Body camera footage showed Thompson was getting onto the interstate from the shoulder when Lujan deployed the Taser, and another officer said he saw Thompson fall in the northbound side of the roadw...

The Kansas Highway Patrol’s ‘Two-Step’ tactic tramples motorists’ rights, a judge rules

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:58:00 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A tactic known as the “Kansas Two-Step” that’s been used by the state Highway Patrol for years to detain out-of-state motorists long enough to find a reason to search their vehicles for illegal drugs violates motorists’ constitutional right against unreasonable searches, a federal judge declared Friday.Senior U.S. District Judge Kathryn Vratil also notified the patrol that she is ready to impose changes in its policing practices and appoint a special master to audit its work for at least four years. The changes would include a requirement that troopers specifically inform motorists they stop that they have the right to reject a search or to revoke consent for one at any time — when under the “Two-Step,” patrol officers avoid telling motorists they are free to go.Vratil issued a scathing, 79-page order in two separate lawsuits filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of three motorists and two passengers traveling in 2017, 2018 and 2019 fr...

Racist text scandal at Northern California police department at center of court hearing

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:58:00 GMT

MARTINEZ, Calif. (AP) — A court hearing to determine whether Northern California police officers who traded racist text messages violated a state law aimed at eliminating racism in the criminal justice system began Friday, with up to eight officers expected to take the stand to speak about the scandal that has roiled the city in the San Francisco Bay Area.Defense attorneys for four men charged with murder and attempted murder in a 2021 shooting subpoenaed the officers to testify about heavily redacted text messages made public in April by the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s office. The attorneys were expected to argue before Judge David Goldstein that their clients, two of them mentioned in the text messages, were unfairly targeted based on their race. The state’s Racial Justice Act prohibits the state from pursuing or securing criminal convictions or sentences on the basis of race, ethnicity or national origin.Seventeen Antioch police officers have been named for sending te...

Seattle climate activists roost in old cedar tree to prevent it from being cut down for new housing

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:58:00 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — With ropes, a harness, a hammock and a bucket pulley system, masked activists in Seattle have taken residence in the branches of an old, thick cedar tree to prevent it from being cut down to make way for new homes.The protest on a private lot is the latest episode highlighting tensions behind tree policy in Seattle as climate change increases temperatures and urban canopy decreases.The Western red cedar, dubbed “Luma,” is about 80 feet (24.4 meters) tall, with two trunks that are each about 4 feet (1.2 meters) in diameter.Its age is not known, but activists have estimated it could be as much as 200 years old. The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe is seeking to have the tree preserved for its archaeological significance, saying that Native Americans shaped its branches generations ago to distinguish it as a trail marker.The protesters have declined to give their names, citing concerns about retaliation.“We have to win this tree. We have to win because Luma is setting the tone fo...

French police investigate violent home robbery of PSG keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:58:00 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French police are investigating a violent armed robbery that targeted Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma at his home.The Paris prosecutor’s office said the player was robbed early Friday. The prosecutor’s office and the French capital’s police force refused to release details about the attack that French media said took place in the early hours of the morning in his Paris home.A police investigation has been opened on possible armed robbery, kidnapping and aggravated violence charges, the prosecutor’s office said.Le Parisien newspaper, quoting an unnamed police source, reported that four people broke into his apartment in Paris’ upmarket 8th district at about 3 a.m. It said Donnarumma and his partner were tied up and he was slightly injured. Both were treated in hospital for shock, it said.The attackers made off with valuables estimated to be worth about half a million euros (dollars), including watches, jewelry and other l...