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Mexico to set up center for third-country migrants and U.S. will take referrals for possible refuge

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:55:47 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. government announced Friday it will take referrals of Haitian, Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan citizens from Mexico for possible resettlement as refugees in the United States. Mexico announced earlier this week it will set up a service center offering jobs and resettlement for people from those four countries. It said the center will be on the southern border with Guatemala, but did not specify where or when it would open.When the U.S. government began requiring asylum seekers to apply on line or from their home countries, many of them had already begun the journey to the U.S. border and wound up up stuck in Mexico. The Mexican center is meant to serve those people.“We are announcing our full support for an international multipurpose space that the Government of Mexico plans to establish in southern Mexico to offer new refugee and labor options for the most vulnerable people who are currently in Mexico,” saidU.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan s...

Kurdish groups: Turkish strikes in Syria, Iraq kill eight fighters

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:55:47 GMT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Kurdish-led armed groups in Iraq and Syria alleged that Turkish airstrikes killed a total of eight of their fighters Friday.The counterterrorism service of the regional government in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq said in a statement that four members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, were killed and another wounded in a Turkish drone strike in Sharbazher district in Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdish region of Iraq.The drone targeted a vehicle carrying PKK fighters near the village of Rangina, it said.Also Friday, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which controls much of northeast Syria, said in a statement that four of its fighters were killed by a Turkish drone attack on the village of Khirbet Khwei in the Amuda region.The statement accused Turkey of “aiming at undermining security and stability in the region.”There was no immediate comment from Turkey on the strikes.The violence was the latest in a monthslong escalation between Turkey a...

Montana judge temporarily lifts ban on drag performances ahead of major Pride event

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:55:47 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge in Montana on Friday temporarily blocked a new law that restricts drag performances just days before thousands of people are expected to attend Montana Pride’s 30th anniversary celebration in Helena.The way the law is written “will disproportionally harm not only drag performers, but any person who falls outside traditional gender and identity norms,” including transgender people, U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris said.The law seeks to ban minors from attending what it calls “sexually oriented” performances, and bans such performances in public places where minors might be present. However, it does not adequately define many of the terms used in the law, causing people to self-censor out of fear of prosecution, plaintiff’s attorney Constance Van Kley with Upper Seven Law argued Wednesday. “Plaintiffs, along with the approximately 15,000 Montanans who wish to attend the (Montana Pride) events, cannot avoid chilled speech or exposu...

Judge allows suit alleging that hospital ignored parents and performed fetal autopsy without consent

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:55:47 GMT

DOVER, Del. (AP) — A judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that a Delaware hospital system performed an autopsy on a 16-week-old fetus despite the parents refusing to give their consent.Superior Court Judge Patricia Winston denied a motion this week by Christiana Care Health Services and Christiana Care Health System to dismiss a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress filed by Maryland residents Meredith and Brandon Boas.The couple had adequately stated a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, Winston said. The offense is defined as “extreme and outrageous conduct” that intentionally or recklessly causes severe emotional distress to another.Attorneys for the hospital system argued that performing a fetal autopsy without consent and against the express wishes of the parents does not rise to the level of being “beyond all possible bounds of decency.”“Plaintiffs do not allege that the autopsy was performed in an indecent manner or that CCHS int...

100+ new affordable homes coming to a southeast Austin neighborhood

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:55:47 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Austin Habitat for Humanity celebrated a groundbreaking ceremony Friday with some Austin city leaders for the future housing development of 126 affordable homes. Homes in the new community, called Persimmon Point, will be available at affordable prices to qualified low-to-moderate-income households, with individuals earning up to 80% of the local median income, around $36,000 annually.  MORE: New street in southeast Austin paves way for affordable housing “We're looking to help our essential workers, help the people in that 60 to 80% median family income bracket. Homeownership, from a market perspective, is pretty unattainable to those income earners,” said Billy Whipple, Senior Vice President of Construction for Austin Habitat for Humanity.“They're out there, they're working [and] they're super important people to our community,” he continued. “We want to make sure that they have the option and the opportunity to own a house in Austin if they want to. Th...

Texas rat, Arkansas skunk may soon be protected by an Act

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:55:47 GMT

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will issue decisions on 31 southeast animals and plants and two southwest animals that may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act.On July 24, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to issue decisions on whether these species need protective status. The agreement came in response to a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity. “We could lose two out of every five wild species if we don’t act now,” said Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. She adds that we need urgency from the Fish and Wildlife Service. LIST: Endangered species that can be found in Central Texas According to Curry, twenty-four of the species will be considered for protection stated before the end of the year, including the Texas kangaroo rat, the Alabama hickory nut, the Eastern spotted skunk, the Jackson prairie crayfish, the speckled burrowing crayfish, spiny tail crayfish, and the Yazoo...

2 TABC agents expected to be terminated following DWI arrest

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:55:47 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Two employees with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission are expected to be terminated August 1 following an investigation for policy violations, according to commission officials.A TABC spokesperson said an agent was arrested on a DWI charge. They were accompanied by another agent that was not arrested.TABC officials said a preliminary investigation found the agents violated TABC policy while operating a vehicle.Officials with the agency said the incident remained under investigation.

Texas mother accidentally calls 911 looking for son's soccer ball, deputy arrives and finds ball

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:55:47 GMT

BEXAR COUNTY, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A Texas woman who accidentally called 911 while looking for her son's soccer ball was shocked when she saw a deputy knock on her door with the missing ball.(Photo: Bexar County Sheriff's Office)According to the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, the woman had a safety setting that allowed her to call 911 without unlocking. When emergency services answered, she told them it was an accident and everything was fine.A deputy was sent to do a welfare check, where she explained that she called accidentally while looking for the ball. "I jokingly told him if he sees the ball, let me know," the post stated. "Not two minutes later, he was knocking on the door with the ball."Ring Camera photos provided by the sheriff's office showed the interaction.

Permanent memorial for fallen officer Scott Patrick planned in West St. Paul

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:55:47 GMT

A curbside memorial marks the spot where Mendota Heights police officer Scott Patrick was murdered during a traffic stop just over the city’s border in West St. Paul nine years ago Sunday.People still leave flowers, candles and other things at the spot on Dodd Road, just south of Smith Avenue, to pay tribute to Patrick, a well-known officer who took pride in his community-based policing during his nearly two decades as a cop.Neil Garlock stopped by the site Friday morning with a can of blue spray-paint. He went over the “MHPD” and  “2231,” Patrick’s badge number, which someone first put on Dodd Road a year to the day after the 47-year-old officer was fatally shot.Garlock was Patrick’s field-training officer for three months, then his sergeant. He retired 61 days before Patrick’s killing, which happened in broad daylight on July 30, 2014.“I’m always cleaning this area up, cigarette butts or whatever it is,” said Garlock, who lives four blocks away in Mendota Heights, where he was may...

Vikings safety Josh Metellus is proof of what special teams can do for a player

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:55:47 GMT

Vikings safety Josh Metellus made it clear this spring that he intends to play special teams as long as the Vikings will let him.“If we need somebody out there, I’m the first one to raise my hand,” said Metellus, who has made a name for himself as an ace on special teams. “That’s something I’m always going to have in the back of my head.”Now that Metellus has started to pick up more playing time on defense, however, his playing time on specials teams could decrease.Though he’s not technically a starter, Metellus is a player new defensive coordinator Brian Flores clearly plans to use in certain packages. After a few days into training camp at TCO Performance Center, Metellus has often been on the field with fellow safeties Harrison Smith and Cam Bynum.“We know Josh is talented,” Flores said. “He’s shown that over the course of his career.”As much as that talent has helped Metellus develop since the Vikings selected him in the sixt...