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Battle over creating new court centers on equality in Mississippi’s majority-Black capital city

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The constitutional right of equal treatment under the law is at the center of a monthslong legal fight over a state-run court in part of Mississippi’s majority-Black capital city of Jackson.A federal judge is set to hear arguments Dec. 19 over the Capitol Complex Improvement District Court, which is scheduled to be created Jan. 1.The new court would be led by a state-appointed judge and prosecutors, and it would be the equivalent of a municipal court, handling misdemeanor cases. Municipal judges and prosecutors in Mississippi are typically appointed by local elected officials, but legislators who created the CCID Court said it was part of a package to fight crime.The Justice Department says the new court would continue Mississippi’s long history of trying to suppress Black people’s right to participate in government.“Just like many past efforts to undermine Black political power, (the law) singles out the majority-Black City of Jackson for los...

Hong Kong leader praises election turnout as voter numbers hit record low

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong leader John Lee on Tuesday praised the 27.5% voter turnout in the city’s weekend election, a record low since the territory returned to Chinese rule in 1997.Sunday’s district council election was the first held under new rules introduced under Beijing’s direction that effectively shut out all pro-democracy candidates.“The turnout of 1.2 million voters has indicated that they supported the election, they supported the principles,” Lee said at a news conference.“It is important that we focus our attention on the outcome of the election, and the outcome will mean a constructive district council, rather than what used to be a destructive one,” he said.Sunday’s turnout was significantly less than the record 71.2% of Hong Kong’s 4.3 million registered voters who participated in the last election, held at the height of anti-government protests in 2019, which the pro-democracy camp won by a landslide.Lee said there was resistance to Sunday&...

Florida school board may seek ouster of Moms for Liberty co-founder over Republican sex scandal

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — A co-founder of the conservative Moms for Liberty group could move a step closer to getting ousted from a Florida school board on Tuesday, as she is embroiled in the fallout of a sexual assault investigation into her husband, the Republican Party state chairman.The Sarasota County School Board cannot directly remove Bridget Ziegler from the panel but was set to vote on a resolution requesting that she step down. The resolution was authored by board Chair Karen Rose, who said in an email that she is “shocked and deeply saddened” by the rape allegations involving Ziegler’s husband, Christian Ziegler, and the couple’s admissions about having a three-way sexual encounter previously with the accuser.“I personally care about Bridget and her family and deeply regret the necessity for this course of action, but given the intense media scrutiny locally and nationally, her continued presence on the Board would cause irreparably harmful distractions to our cri...

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear sworn in for 2nd term in Republican-leaning Kentucky

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear renewed his oath of office early Tuesday during a ceremony at Kentucky’s Capitol, launching his second term after notching a convincing reelection victory that could offer a roadmap for his party’s broader efforts to make inroads in Republican strongholds.Beshear, 46, was sworn in just after midnight before a gathering of family, friends and supporters — a Bluegrass State ritual every four years to ensure continuity at the head of state government.The middle-of-the night formality preceded a full day of inaugural events Tuesday, including a worship service, a parade and a public swearing-in ceremony on the Capitol steps. Beshear will lay out themes for the second half of his governorship during his inaugural speech in the afternoon.The governor defeated Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron in last month’s election, extending Beshear’s winning streak in a state that otherwise has swung decidedly toward t...

Journalists tackle a political what-if: What might a second Trump presidency look like?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Even before anyone has cast a vote in a 2024 presidential primary, the attention of many political journalists has shifted to Jan. 20, 2025.There has been a flurry of recent stories about the implications of a potential second presidency for Donald Trump, and his team’s planning for Inauguration Day and beyond. Polls show his continued dominance over Republican rivals and the likelihood of a close general election.The New York Times reporting team of Charlie Savage, Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman has been mining that topic since the summer, and last week wrote in depth about the former president’s authoritarian impulses, and the possibility of fewer checks on his power. On Sunday, they examined whether Trump would leave NATO.A special issue of The Atlantic magazine released last week collected essays by 24 writers on how a Trump presidency would affect things like foreign policy, immigration, journalism and climate change. Editor Jeffrey Goldberg wrote...

Whitmer’s fight for abortion rights helped turn Michigan blue. She’s eyeing national impact now

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Ten years ago, as Michigan’s Republican-led Legislature was on the verge of passing one of the nation’s most restrictive anti-abortion laws at the time, a 42-year-old state senator from East Lansing took to the Senate floor to speak out against what she knew was about to happen.Minutes into her speech, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer tossed aside her prepared remarks and revealed for the first time publicly that she had been raped while attending college. Had she become pregnant, Whitmer said, she would not have been able to afford an abortion under the proposed law.The bill, which Whitmer had derisively called “rape insurance” because it required women to declare when buying health insurance whether they expected to receive an abortion, passed anyway. But Whitmer, now in her second term as Michigan’s governor after winning reelection by nearly 11 percentage points in 2022, this week removed the requirement from state law with the stroke of a pen after Michigan...

How the 2016 election could factor into the case accusing Trump of trying to overturn the 2020 race

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — To hear his lawyers tell it, Donald Trump was alarmed by Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, motivated as president to focus on cybersecurity and had a good-faith basis four years later to worry that foreign actors had again meddled in the race.But to federal prosecutors, 2016 is significant as the year that Trump spread misinformation about voter fraud and proved himself resistant to accepting the outcome of elections that might not go his way.Even though a trial set for next year in Washington is centered on Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, lawyers on both sides have signaled their desire — for totally different purposes — to draw attention to the tumultuous presidential contest four years earlier as a way to help explain his state of mind after his loss to Democrat Joe Biden. “When we’re talking about someone’s belief or mental state, there is usually no one piece of evidence that is dispositive,” said David Aaron, a former Just...

US inflation likely cooled again last month as Fed prepares to assess interest rates

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — This year’s steady slowdown in U.S. inflation likely continued in November, though the latest data may also point to steadily higher prices in some areas of the economy. Tuesday’s inflation report from the Labor Department is expected to show that businesses kept overall prices unchanged for a second straight month.Falling gas prices, in particular, are thought to have offset a rise in food costs from October to November. And compared with a year earlier, inflation is expected to ease to 3.1% from 3.2% in October, according to a survey of economists by FactSet. But a closely watched category called “core prices,” which excludes volatile food and energy costs, is predicted to rise 0.3% from October to November — a monthly pace that far outpaces the Federal Reserve’s 2% annual inflation target. On a year-over-year basis, core prices are expected to increase 4%, the same as in October.The Fed considers core prices to be a better guide to the likely p...

Defensive issues remain, but Avalanche rallies for wild, much-needed victory behind Nathan MacKinnon game-winner

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

The Colorado Avalanche’s best players put the team in a big hole Monday night with some suspect work without the puck.Then they reminded everyone of how quickly they can turn a game with their offensive firepower.Colorado yielded four goals in an ugly second period, but rallied for a 6-5 victory that was far more about the result than the overall process. The Avs had lost five of six before this, and appeared to be headed for the worst defeat of the funk before one strong period bailed them out.The Avs scored three times in 4:10 during the third to erase a 5-3 deficit. Ross Colton scored on a broken play to pull the Avalanche within one.Mikko Rantanen scored a goal for the first time in 10 games to tie it up. It was a greasy one, a rebound of a Makar shot with multiple bodies around the crease. Then Nathan MacKinnon got in behind the Calgary defense and scored with 4:30 left.One of coach Jared Bednar’s talking points over the past two days was turnovers and yielding scor...

Glendale man accused of racially-fueled attack on street vendors

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

A Glendale man was arrested in connection with a violent, racially-fueled attack on street vendors.The suspect was identified as Emanuel Gulakian, 36, by the Glendale Police Department.On Nov. 1, officers responded to a disturbance near Sonora Avenue and San Fernando Road at around 11:45 p.m.The victims, who are street vendors, told police Gulakian had approached them and “unleashed a barrage of racial slurs and profanity toward them.”The victims are of Hispanic heritage, police said.The suspect then found large pieces of concrete nearby and began throwing them at the victims. Some of the concrete pieces were as large as softballs. Mother speaks on being targeted in anti-Mexican rant at Disneyland Concrete pieces as large as softballs were thrown by the suspect during a racially-fueled attack on Glendale street vendors on Nov. 1, 2023. (Glendale Police Department)Emanuel Gulakian, 36, in a photo from the Glendale Police Department.One person was struck by the concrete, while parts...