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NYC carriage driver shown in video flogging horse is charged with animal cruelty

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:53 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A carriage horse driver was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty on Wednesday, more than a year after his frail, ill horse collapsed on the streets of Manhattan, prosecutors announced.Ian McKeever, 54, was arraigned on a charge of overdriving, torturing and injuring an animal or failure to provide proper sustenance for his treatment of the horse, Ryder, on Aug. 10, 2022, when it collapsed during the evening rush hour and lay on the street.Video published by the New York Post showed McKeever pulling on Ryder’s reins and flogging the horse with a whip.According to the criminal complaint, McKeever had been working Ryder since 9 a.m. when the horse collapsed in 84-degree (29-degree Celsius) weather.Once Ryder was down, McKeever didn’t give the horse any water, prosecutors said.A police officer removed Ryder’s harness and put ice and cold water on the horse for 45 minutes until he was able to stand up, District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a news rele...

DEA Chicago adds suspected cocaine trafficker to Most Wanted List

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:53 GMT

CHICAGO — A cocaine-trafficking suspect with ties to Chicago is now on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Most Wanted List.  Oswaldo Espinosa is accused of shipping thousands of pounds of cocaine to Chicago and other US cities.  The Mexican national and 14 others were indicted in July. Prosecutors say Espinosa and his operatives are connected to more than 1,200 pounds of cocaine seized between March 2021 and March 2022.  Federal investigators also traced him to a jet packed full of cocaine seized in Gary in 2021. Espinosa faces multiple charges, including conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute, and money laundering.Anyone with information on Espinosa can report tips at https://www.usmarshals.gov/tips/ or call 911.

Suburban PD's first therapy dog warming hearts wherever he's needed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:53 GMT

BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. — A 4-year-old labradoodle recently became Buffalo Grove’s police department’s first therapy dog.And within just a few weeks of his arrival, Grady has become top dog."Our other police dog is there to get the bad guys. Grady is there for the good guys," Buffalo Grove Deputy Police Chief Brian Spolar said. More from Erin: Chicago’s Hare BnB helping rabbits find homes Grady has been trained to bring comfort and a smile to those in need. As if he knows, when he dons the vest it's time to put out the 'feel good'. When he isn't making the rounds at the station, he’s heading off to school visits, library read alongs and pretty much any place in need of a comfort and wagging tail.It is all in a day's work, for a dog hired to bring smiles.

Mother of boy who shot Virginia teacher sentenced to 21 months in prison

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:53 GMT

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — Deja Taylor, the Virginia mother of the 6-year-old boy who shot his first-grade teacher in January, has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for using marijuana while owning a firearm. Taylor appeared in a U.S. District Court on Wednesday to receive her sentence, the first measure of accountability for January’s shooting. She pleaded guilty in June to federal charges of using drugs while having a gun and lying about her drug use when purchasing the weapon. On January 6, Taylor's 6-year-old son shot his teacher Abby Zwerner at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, using his mother's gun.Police say the boy fired one shot at Zwerner in her first-grade classroom. The bullet went through her hand and into her chest. She is still recovering from her injuries. Former Richneck Elementary School principal not aware of student bringing gun to school, says lawyer Court documents show police found marijuana in Taylor's home after the shooting. Federal prosecu...

Man, 92, survives fall down embankment, spends night in 'life-threatening' temps: Police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:53 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- A 92-year-old driver was rescued last week after falling down an embankment and spending the night in below-freezing temperatures, Oregon State Police announced Monday.Police say they were notified of an "overdue" driver, identified as Larry Hendrickson, on Nov. 7 around 3 p.m. He was last known to be driving west on I-84 near Milepost 283 in Baker County.According to OSP, officers located an abandoned vehicle the following morning and then discovered Hendrickson was down an embankment. Dog found alive with missing hiker’s body after 72 days in Colorado mountains "The driver had fallen down the embankment and was covered in vegetation when discovered. Thankfully, the driver was conscious and breathing when located by an OSP trooper and an officer from Baker City Police Department. The man had survived the night in life-threatening cold weather conditions. When located, the temperatures remained below freezing," OSP said in a release.First aid was performed...

Lawmakers question use of AI to deal with global competition

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) -- Lawmakers are looking for the right way for the U.S. to fully utilize AI and to deal with competition across the globe."We need to proceed with an AI agenda that is wrapped in American values, " Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said.With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, Cardin says the U.S. needs to stay at the front of the pack."Our adversaries do not share that commitment to our values," Cardin said.Cardin is worried about what will happen with AI if the U.S. falls behind and the most powerful tools end up in the wrong hands."Where do we go as far as establishing international guardrails," Cardin asked."We're in a race without geopolitical adversaries and we cannot afford to hamstring our innovative competitive advantage," State Department Bureau for Cyberspace and Digital Policy Ambassador Nathaniel Fick said.Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) says an agreement between the U.S. and China to limit the use of AI in developing nuclear systems would be signifi...

Gwyneth Paltrow's ski crash trial is being adapted into a musical

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:53 GMT

(The Hill) -- A London-based theater company will stage a new musical production centered around actress and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow’s skiing accident trial.Pleasance Theatre announced on Wednesday an Awkward Productions musical, “Gwyneth Goes Skiing.”It is a satire musical based on the actress' ski course collision with a retired optometrist at a Utah resort in 2016 and the well-publicized courtroom trial that followed.  Travis Kelce comments on weekend with Taylor Swift, being ‘shocked’ by changed song lyric “She’s the Goop-founding, Door-Sliding, Shakespeare-In-Loving, consciously-uncoupling Hollywood superstar. He’s a retired Optometrist from Utah. In 2016, they went skiing,” the musical official description reads. “On the slopes of Deer Valley, their worlds collided, and so did they — literally. Ouch. Seven years later in 2023, they went to court. Double ouch.”“This is their story. Kind of. Not really. But also, it’s at Christmas.”Gwyneth Paltrow reacts to the verdi...

'Perfect storm' leading to pandemic-level food insecurity at Central Texas Food Bank

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Over the past several months, demand levels have risen at the Central Texas Food Bank, with an average of 370,000 people served each month. Now, top nonprofit leaders said that number of people seeking services is at or surpassing levels seen at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic — making for a "perfect storm" of food insecurity in Central Texas."It's a perfect storm of a couple of things," said Mark Jackson, chief development officer at CTFB. "Primarily, the reduction in the pandemic-era SNAP benefits earlier in the spring, coupled with the massive increase in inflation and the cost of living in Austin. And it's just really putting a pinch on families and making it hard for them to keep food on the table." Friendsgiving Challenge 2023: Donate to Team David or Kristen to help Central Texas Food Bank The holidays have historically been a busier time of year for the food bank, he said. However, demand levels have steadily increased for the past four to five months...

REPORT: Austin airport ranked 28th out of 30 best midsized airports nationally

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new report from The Wall Street Journal Wednesday ranked Austin-Bergstrom International Airport No. 28 out of 30 best midsized airports in the United States, with an overall rating of 58.5 out of 100.The ranking was the culmination of reliability, value and convenience scores that pulled data from government agencies as well as a survey of travelers conducted by WSJ's research partners, Dynata. Many of AUS' lowest ratings were listed under its reliability score, which received a score of 45.8. It was ranked 26 out of 30 for on-time arrivals, which happen approximately 74.58% of the time. The average taxi-in time was seven minutes and 54 seconds, landing it in 28th place. Its Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) security delay date also landed it in 27th place out of the 30 midsized airports considered.Under its value and convenience score, AUS received a 71.2% approval ranking. AUS landed in the Top 10 listings for nonstop destinations, lounges, child faciliti...

How to learn the benefits of recycling

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Nov. 15 is the day set aside for Texas Recycles Day. Rich Segal spoke with Laura Lopez from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on the history of this day and the reason it is so important.This event dates back to 1994 when it was National Recycles Day. There are 40 states, including Texas, participating in their respective Recycles Day.Lopez said this day is important because one person throws away seven pounds of of waste per day. It adds up to nearly 30 pounds of waste for a family of four. One of the objectives is to bring both of these numbers down to send less to area landfills.In 2022, 39.7 billion tons of waste went to landfalls across the country. Also in 2022, just 1.7 million tons were diverted away from the landfills due to the efforts of those who do recycle.Lopez urged people to participate in local events, visit websites like Keep America Beautiful, organize a community cleanup, talk to others about the benefits of recycling.Another valuable...