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Some states act to protect residents from extreme heat — with a new focus on young people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:12 GMT

Tim Henderson | Stateline.org (TNS)After two years of record-breaking heat that brought a surge of deaths and health emergencies, several states have enacted or are considering measures designed to protect residents — with a new focus on younger people whose vulnerability is rising with the temperatures.Nationally, heat-related deaths rose from about 1,000 in 2018 to 1,722 in 2022 and 1,784 so far in 2023, according to a Stateline analysis of federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Those totals are likely an underestimate because heat waves make death more likely from other causes as well.The Stateline analysis considered heat-related deaths in CDC epidemiological research, known as Wonder data, where heat is listed as a direct or contributing cause. But deaths caused by heat more indirectly are much higher. A New York City analysis last year, for example, found an average 360 heat-exacerbated deaths in the city annually compared with 10 caused directly by heat.Clim...

ICE arrests Brazilian fugitive convicted of child rape in Massachusetts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:12 GMT

ICE deportation officers in Massachusetts have arrested a Brazilian fugitive who had been convicted of child rape, according to federal immigration officials.Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston officers arrested Edimir Gustavo Eckelberg, 62, who had been wanted following a child rape conviction in Brazil.Deportation officers from ERO Boston’s Foreign Fugitive Apprehension Unit apprehended Eckelberg in Tewksbury on Tuesday.Eckelberg had been wanted by Brazilian law enforcement authorities after he fled the country instead of serving a 12-year prison sentence for the child rape conviction earlier this year.“There is no more repulsive and disturbing crime than the sexual assault of a child,” ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons said in a statement. “We are proud to have apprehended this convicted rapist and will seek to remove him from the United States so that he cannot prey on the members of our community.“Convicted foreign fugitives a...

Brain fog caused by long Covid is real. These doctors have advice for managing it

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:12 GMT

One of the ways long COVID presents itself, commonly known as “brain fog,” is particularly devastating to those suffering with it, say doctors.The New York Times recently reported that, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, more Americans say they have problems with memory, making decisions and other cognitive issues than at any time in the last 15 years.It’s as common as other long COVID symptoms and continues to appear in adults in their 30s and 40s and has been reported to keep people out of work.“If you can take the example of an engineer who works with computers and has to process the information and write down the data and do all kinds of mental calculations and make decisions, they cannot do that because they cannot process the information,” said Dr. Naheed Van de Walle, a rehabilitation physician with Hartford HealthCare. “I had a patient who had to give up the practice of law because of these brain fog symptoms,” she said. “And I have patients who are physicians who obviousl...

An appeals court reinstates gag order that barred Trump from maligning court staff in NY fraud trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:12 GMT

By JENNIFER PELTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — A New York appeals court Thursday reinstated a gag order that barred Donald Trump from commenting about court personnel after the former president repeatedly disparaged a law clerk in his New York civil fraud trial. The one-sentence decision from a four-judge panel came two weeks after an individual appellate judge put the gag order on hold while the appeals process played out.Trial judge Arthur Engoron, who imposed the restriction, said he now planned to enforce it “rigorously and vigorously.” Trump attorney Christopher Kise called it “a tragic day for the rule of law.” Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, complained that the order was “nothing but attempted election interference, which is failing terribly.” Engoron imposed the gag order Oct. 3 after Trump posted a derogatory comment about the judge’s law clerk to social med...

Mikey Williams pleads guilty to single count of making criminal threats

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:12 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- San Ysidro High School basketball star Mikey Williams, who was recruited by the University of Memphis, made a plea Thursday in connection to a shooting outside his Jamul home.While facing a judge in a San Diego courtroom, the 19-year-old plead guilty to a single count of making criminal threats, FOX 5 confirmed while at the proceedings. Three San Diego-area eateries among best new restaurants in US: Esquire Williams was first arrested in April on suspicion of assault with deadly weapon. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said he was taken into custody in connection with an altercation that occurred shortly before midnight on March 27, 2023.The incident, which SDSO said was reported the next day, started as a verbal argument about guests being asked to leave from a home in Jamul. Five people, including three minors, got into a car and were driving away when shots were allegedly fired at the vehicle. The car was hit, SDSO said, but nobody inside was hurt. Willia...

REVIEW: Maestro is Bradley Cooper’s near-successful attempt at a masterpiece

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:12 GMT

One of the giants of 20th century music who isn’t as well-remembered compared to the Beatles or Michael Jackson is Leonard Bernstein. A famous composer and conductor, most people know Bernstein nowadays as the composer of the music for West Side Story. But he left behind a legacy as one of the greatest conductors in American history, and this new film depicts his tumultuous and turbulent life as directed by one of cinema’s biggest drama kids.Maestro. Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein (Director/Writer/Producer) in Maestro. Cr. Jason McDonald/Netflix © 2023.Bradley Cooper (from A Star Is Born, the Hangover, and Guardians of the Galaxy) has many roles In Maestro. Not only did he co-produce the film alongside several others, and co-write the film alongside Josh Singer (who previously wrote Spotlight and First Man), he also directs the film and stars as Bernstein. The film unfolds in two halves, the first documenting his initial musical successes and his courtship with his ...

Former ambassador and Republican politician sues to block Tennessee voting law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:12 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Former Ambassador to Poland and longtime Tennessee Republican politician Victor Ashe sued state election officials on Wednesday over a law he claims is so vague that he could be prosecuted for voting in a Republican primary.The 1972 state law requiring primary voters to be “bona fide” party members or “declare allegiance” to the party has rarely been invoked, but legislators voted this year to require polling places to post warning signs stating that it’s a crime to vote in a political party’s primary if you are not a bona fide member of that party. Ashe and other plaintiffs challenge both laws in the lawsuit filed in federal court in Nashville. They argue that Tennessee voters aren’t registered by party, and the law does not define what it means to be a bona fide party member, to declare allegiance to a party or long that allegiance must last. Such vague terms invite arbitrary enforcement and are likely to intimidate otherwise legitimate voters, ...

‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ named best film of 2023 by New York film critics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:12 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” has been named the best film of the year by the New York Film Critics Circle. It’s the third time that Scorsese has been given the best film award from his hometown’s critics, who named 1990’s “GoodFellas” their top movie, as well as 2019’s “The Irishman.” On Thursday, the group also awarded Lily Gladstone, who stars alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” best actress. “Killers of the Flower Moon,” a $200 million Apple Studios production based on David Grann’s nonfiction bestseller, chronicles the Osage murders of the 1920s. “Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster drama about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project, picked up several awards: best director for Nolan and best cinematography, by Hoyte van Hoytema. The New York Film Critics Circle, founded in 1935, is the oldest critics group in the country. The awards will be handed out at ...

Police searching for two people accused in FBI agent carjacking in Washington

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:12 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Police are searching for two people on Thursday after an FBI agent was carjacked earlier this week in Washington D.C., as the nation’s capital copes with a spike in carjackings. Investigators are offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of the pair accused of stealing the car at gunpoint as the agent exited the vehicle Wednesday afternoon, authorities said. They then drove off in the FBI vehicle. It was found less than an hour later, about a mile, or 1.6 kilometers, from the site of the theft. The bureau’s Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department’s carjacking task force are investigating. Carjackings in the nation’s capital have more than doubled this year, and recent victims include a diplomat from the United Arab Emirates and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas. He was carjacked near the Capitol in October by three armed assailants, who stole his car but didn’t physically harm him.Earlier this month, ...

Saskatchewan First Nation chief says Buffy Sainte-Marie should take DNA test

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:12 GMT

The chief of a Saskatchewan First Nation that has been thrust into the controversy over Buffy Sainte-Marie’s ancestry says the legendary singer and songwriter should take a DNA test to provide a definitive answer about her heritage. Piapot First Nation acting Chief Ira Lavallee says he believed the narrative from Sainte-Marie that she had lineage and parentage connected to the southern Saskatchewan community. However, after a CBC report in October raised questions about her Indigenous heritage, he says he’s no longer sure.CBC located the singer’s birth certificate, which says she was born in 1941 in Massachusetts and lists the baby and parents as white.Family members in the United States, including a younger sister, told CBC that Sainte-Marie was not adopted and does not have Indigenous ancestry.Sainte-Marie has said the CBC report had mistakes and omissions, adding she has never lied about her identity.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2023....