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Activist who acknowledged helping flip police car during 2020 protest sentenced to 1 year in prison

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:00:02 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A well-known west Philadelphia activist who acknowledged having helped overturn a police car during 2020 protests following the death of George Floyd has been sentenced to a year in prison.Anthony Smith was sentenced Tuesday following a guilty plea in June to a federal charge of obstructing law enforcement during a civil disorder, which included aiding and abetting an arson, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Smith acknowledged having helped others flip a vacant Philadelphia police car over outside City Hall on May 31, 2020. After someone fired a road flare into the vehicle, sending it up in flames, Smith then threw a piece of paper into the blaze, prosecutors said.U.S. District Judge Juan Sánchez heard emotional pleas in a packed courtroom from family, friends and ex-students of the former social studies teacher who asked him not to send Smith to prison. Sánchez praised them for coming to court and lauded Smith’s community work and “passion for advocacy” ...

Novelist Tim Dorsey, who mixed comedy and murder in his Serge A. Storms stories, dies at 62

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:00:02 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Tim Dorsey, a former police and courts newspaper reporter who found lasting fame as the creator of the crime-comedy novel series starring Serge A. Storms, an energetic fan of Florida history and an ingenious serial killer, has died. He was 62.Dorsey, who published 26 novels, died Sunday, according to Danielle Bartlett, a publicity director at William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins. No details were revealed. Fans of Dorsey appreciated his clever observations and satirical pokes at the weirdness of Florida. He was part of a trio of former newspapermen from Florida — including Dave Barry and Carl Hiaasen — who found a rich vein of absurdist humor in the state.“It was a privilege and honor to work with Tim Dorsey. His easy wit and deep knowledge of Florida-lore made his satirical crime capers as entertaining as they were timely. But his greatest gift was the boundless joy and escape that Serge A. Storms brought to readers on every page,” said Emily Krump, Dors...

Sports Illustrated is the latest media company damaged by an AI experiment gone wrong

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:00:02 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Computer-generated writers … writing computer-generated stories? Sports Illustrated is the latest media company to see its reputation damaged by being less than forthcoming — if not outright dishonest — about who or what is writing its stories at the dawn of the artificial intelligence age.The once-powerful publication said it was firing a company that produced articles for its website written under the byline of authors who apparently don’t exist. But it denied a published report that stories themselves were written by an artificial intelligence tool.Earlier this year, experiments with AI went awry at both the Gannett newspaper chain and the CNET technology website. Many companies are testing the new technology at a time when human workers fear it could cost jobs. But the process is fraught in journalism, which builds and markets its values-based products around the notions of truth and transparency.While there’s nothing wrong in media companies experime...

US agency to end use of ‘cyanide bomb’ to kill coyotes and other predators, citing safety concerns

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:00:02 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has halted the use of spring-loaded traps that disperse cyanide powder to kill coyotes and other livestock predators, a practice wildlife advocates have tried to outlaw for decades due to safety concerns.The M-44 ejector-devices that critics call “cyanide bombs” have unintentionally killed thousands of pets and non-predator wildlife, including endangered species, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services. They have a scented bait and emit a poisonous cloud when triggered by a physical disturbance.The Bureau of Land Management quietly posted a notice on its website last week that it no longer will use the devices across the 390,625 square miles (1,011,714 square kilometers) it manages nationally — an area twice the size of California — much of it where ranchers graze cattle and sheep. Other federal agencies — including the National Park Service, and the Fish and Wildlife Service — already prohibit th...

Digital services tax still part of the plan, says Freeland, but timing unclear

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:00:02 GMT

OTTAWA — Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is pushing back against the idea that the federal government is wavering on its Jan. 1 timeline for implementing a new digital services tax. Language in last week’s fiscal update suggested the government wanted some flexibility in the timeline for when the tax would go into effect. Freeland insists the government’s position on the controversial measure remains unchanged, although she did not explicitly say if the tax would take effect early next year, as originally planned. The three per cent levy, aimed at foreign digital services companies that profit off Canadian audiences, is deeply unpopular in the United States, where critics say it unfairly targets the U.S. tech sector. Freeland says Canada’s preference has always been to be part of an international tax framework that is still under development, but also that it would not wait until any later than 2023.The tax is just one of a suite of measures from the fall econom...

Toronto ER doctor says winter surge of respiratory illnesses has begun

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:00:02 GMT

Toronto emergency room doctors say the winter surge of COVID-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections is underway, with hospitals seeing a wave of visits across the GTA.In the last week, nearly 250 Ontarians have been admitted to hospital, and Public Health Ontario (PHO) reports the COVID-19 wastewater signal is at its highest level in more than a year.Toronto ER physician Dr. Kashif Pirzada took to social media this week to share he and his colleagues are doing far more resuscitations, crash intubations and seeing far more patients in cramped and packed emergency rooms.“We are admitting adults again on the ward even younger people in their 30s and 40s,’ said Dr. Pirzada. “It means we have to do life-saving maneuvers so we have to put people on ventilators and we have to put people on machines to help them breathe …that’s very serious. That’s when [the] mortality rate is very high as well.”Colleagues and I are doing far more resuscitation...

Springsteen drummer Max Weinberg says vintage car restorer stole $125,000 from him

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:00:02 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Bruce Springsteen’s drummer, Max Weinberg, is suing the owners of a Florida car restoration company, saying they stole $125,000 by falsely promising him a like-new 1957 Mercedes-Benz and then using his money for personal expenses. Weinberg is seeking $375,000 from Arthur Siegle, members of his family and their Investment Automotive Group Inc. in a lawsuit filed Sunday in Palm Beach County. The Mercedes-Benz 190SL roadster they claimed they could deliver had significant damage and rust, and they knew it could not be restored to like-new condition when they took Weinberg’s $125,000 deposit almost three years ago, according to the lawsuit. A subsequent law enforcement investigation concluded that the Siegles used little or no money from Weinberg’s deposit on restoring the car, but instead paid off credit cards and made deposits to personal accounts. No criminal charges have been filed. “I guess they figured he’s Max Weinberg, million...

Blackhawks terminate Corey Perry due to 'unacceptable' conduct

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:00:02 GMT

CHICAGO — Just a few months into his Chicago Blackhawks tenure, Corey Perry's contract has been terminated following an internal investigation by the team, according to General Manager Kyle Davidson at a press conference Tuesday.Davidson read the following statement to open the press conference:“First and foremost, I want to start off by re-iterating the organization is committed to a culture of accountability and upholding our values across our employees and players, both on and off the ice. Last week, management was notified of possible misconduct by Corey Perry. We immediately pulled him from the game and conducted an internal investigation. Upon learning the findings of the investigation, we made the decision to terminate his contract. As this is an individual personnel matter, I will not be able to disclose any details related to the initial reporting, investigation, or the findings. However, I do want to be very clear on this one point. This does not involve any players or the...

15-year-old charged in connection with August armed robbery spree across Chicago

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:00:02 GMT

CHICAGO — A 15-year-old boy is charged with nearly a dozen felony counts of armed robbery, Chicago police said Tuesday.Authorities identified the juvenile as one of the offenders who is suspected of participating in multiple armed robberies across the city's South and West sides in the early morning hours of Aug. 20:12:30 a.m.: 600 block of W. 63rd St. (7th District); 29-year-old female victim - Englewood12:33 a.m.: 3600 block of W. Lake (11th District); 43-year-old male victim - East Garfield Park1:30 a.m.: 1400 block of N. Central (25th District); 54-year-old male victim - Austin2:45 a.m.: 1900 block of W. 79th St. (6th District); 38-year-old male victim - Auburn Gresham3 a.m.: 7900 block S. Racine (6th District); 39-year-old male victim - Auburn Gresham 3:50 a.m.: 600 block of E. 79th St. (6th District); 26-year-old male victim - Grand Crossing4 a.m.: 500 block of E. 79th St. (6th District); two 28-year-old female victims - Grand Crossing  5:30 a.m.: 3400 block of S. Ashland (9t...

Chicago woman accused fraudulently obtaining $75,000 in SBA loans, unemployment benefits

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:00:02 GMT

CHICAGO — Charges have been filed against a Chicago woman accused of fraudulently obtaining around $75,000 in federal Small Business Administration (SBA) loans and unemployment benefits, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced Tuesday.25-year-old Briana Jackson has been charged with one count of theft (Class 1 felony), five counts of theft (Class 2 felonies), one count of loan fraud (Class 2 felony), three counts of wire fraud (Class 3 felonies), eight counts of forgery (Class 3 felonies), and one count of state benefits fraud (Class 3 felony). Johnson unveils plan to move migrants into churches as tent camp construction to begin According to Raoul, Jackson allegedly obtained around $40,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loans after fraudulently filing applications for the program. Jackson is also accused of having collected around $35,000 in unemployment benefits from the state, money Raoulalleges she was not entitled to.“Millions of Americans across the country were forc...