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After leaving bipartisan voting information group, Virginia announces new data-sharing agreements

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:16 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Months after withdrawing from a data-sharing interstate compact to fight voter fraud, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration on Wednesday announced a series of recent steps it has taken to improve the accuracy of the state’s voter rolls. Among them is the launch of new, individual data-sharing agreements with five other states and Washington, D.C., the Virginia Department of Elections said in a news release. The six agreements will enable Virginia to “securely compare voter lists” with Washington, Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia and “identify potential voter fraud” and duplicate registrations, the Department of Elections said in a news release. “Secure elections start with accurate voter lists,” Elections Commissioner Susan Beals said Wednesday, two days before the start of early voting in this year’s legislative elections. “Virginia now updates our voter list using data coming directly from one-to-one data sha...

Judge orders Phoenix to permanently clear the city’s largest homeless encampment by Nov. 4

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:16 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — A judge ruled Wednesday that Phoenix must permanently clear the city’s largest homeless encampment by Nov. 4.City officials began shutting down the homeless encampment known as “The Zone” in May under an order by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney, but they had asked to be given until April 2024 to complete the job.Justin Pierce, a lawyer representing the city, said in July that parts of the encampment on the edge of downtown Phoenix have been cleared since a judge declared the area to be a public nuisance, but other blocks still need to be addressed.Pierce added that the process takes time, including making sure those who live there have somewhere else to go.He said Phoenix is developing a space nearby with tents and temporary restroom facilities as an alternative, has increased the number of police officers working in the area and has nearly tripled its funding on confronting issues of homelessness.Business owners and residents near the encampment hav...

Four young B.C. firefighters heading home die in head-on crash on highway: RCMP

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:16 GMT

Four young men travelling home after helping in the battle against wildfires in central British Columbia are dead after a fiery head-on crash, police and provincial officials said Wednesday.RCMP Cpl. James Grandy said emergency crews responded around 2 a.m. Tuesday to the crash on Highway 1 east of Cache Creek in the province’s southern Interior.A B.C. government statement said the men were heading home after aiding wildfire response efforts in the Vanderhoof area, west of Prince George.Grandy said the initial investigation suggests a Ford F-350 pick-up truck the young men were travelling in failed to navigate a bend in the highway and slammed head-on into a semi-truck travelling in the opposite direction.The semi-truck caught fire, but the driver was able to escape before the vehicle was “engulfed,” the Mounties said in a statement.All four men inside the pick-up truck, who Grandy said were from communities across B.C., died at the scene. They have been identified...

Debate over a Black student’s suspension over his hairstyle in Texas ramps up with probe and lawsuit

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:16 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — The debate over whether a Black high school student in Texas should be serving in-school suspension for wearing twisted dreadlocks to class intensified this week as the student’s family and his school district both took legal action.Darryl George, 17, a junior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, has been serving an in-school suspension since Aug. 31 at the Houston-area school. School officials say his dreadlocks fall below his eyebrows and ear lobes and violate the district’s dress code. George’s mother, Darresha George, and the family’s attorney deny the teenager’s hairstyle violates the Barbers Hill Independent School District dress code and have accused the district of violating a new state law that outlaws racial discrimination based on hairstyles. The new law, the CROWN Act, took effect Sept. 1. On Tuesday, Darresha George and her attorney filed a formal complaint with the Texas Education Agency, alleging that Darryl George was being harassed and mistrea...

UNGA Briefing: Permanent observers, more Security Council and what else is going on at the UN

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:16 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — It’s Day 3 of the U.N. General Assembly high-level meeting that brings world leaders together at U.N. headquarters in New York. Here are the highlights of what happened Wednesday at the U.N. and what to keep an eye on Thursday. Follow our live updates to keep up with developments all week.WHAT HAPPENED AT THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON WEDNESDAY— All eyes were on the Security Council’s meeting on Ukraine for possible fireworks when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov crossed paths. But then they didn’t.— At the Climate Ambition Summit, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry wasn’t permitted to speak. But at least one American was: California Gov. Gavin Newsom.— On the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, U.S. President Joe Biden held highly anticipated bilateral meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.— With two days of speeches under t...

Family, police look for answers after 14-year-old killed following high school football game

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:16 GMT

COUNTRY CLUB HILLS, Ill. — Family of 14-year-old Marshawn Mitchell and members of the Country Club Hills Police Department (CCHPD) gathered Wednesday to ask the public for help in catching Marshawn's killer."My son lost his life at school. What if it was your child? How would you feel?" said Amanda Lenoir, Marshawn's mother. "You would want your child's murder to be solved."14-year-old Marshawn Mitchell.Last Friday night, police were called to the 17000 block of Pulaski Road around 9 p.m. on a report of shots fired after Hillcrest High School's homecoming football game against Oak Forest High School.When police arrived, they found a 14-year-old high school student who had been shot, later identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office as Marshawn. After being taken to the hospital, he was pronounced dead around 9:40 p.m. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 14-year-old boy fatally shot after Hillcrest HS football game ID’d: Police Marshawn was leaving the game around 9 p.m. when he was sho...

Cryptic Instagram posted as police scour home of ex-NFL player's slain mother

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:16 GMT

Video above is from prior coverage of the story.MAYWOOD, Ill. (WGN) — The search for missing ex-NFL player Sergio Brown intensified Wednesday as authorities searched the home of his slain mother. Police in Maywood, Illinois, said family members informed them Saturday that they could not find or make contact with 73-year-old Myrtle Brown or her son, 35-year-old Sergio Brown. After launching a missing persons search for the Browns, police said Myrtle was found unresponsive in a creek near the back of her residence and was later taken to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. Her death is being investigated as a homicide.Instagram post may shed new light in death of former NFL player’s motherAuthorities have been searching for Sergio ever since.On Wednesday, Maywood Police detectives emerged from the home of Myrtle Brown with a white box after nearly an hour inside. The individual who let investigators into the property declined to identify himself to Nexstar's WGN.This comes...

Council members step in after Texas Harm Reduction Alliance told to stop drop-in operations

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:16 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- People stopping by the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance's outreach van -- which was parked near the Lady Bird Lake Hike and Bike Trail Wednesday -- might be given sterile drug supplies or drug testing strips. The problem? Some of those supplies are considered drug paraphernalia and are illegal in Texas. "Despite the fact that there are study after study after study showing the positive health impacts and community impacts of being able to distribute these supplies," said Lily Hughes, outreach team lead with the THRA. The THRA outreach team lead restocks supplies in their outreach van (KXAN photo/Grace Reader)The Texas Harm Reduction Alliance works to connect people at risk of an opioid overdose with clean supplies, naloxone -- an opioid overdose reversal medication -- and treatment resources.That's part of the reason why just down the street at the THRA's drop-in center on Cesar Chavez, the group was told they needed to stop. "On overdose awareness day, we got a letter...

Whistleblowers beg Abbott to 'take action' over Medicaid errors, food assistance delays

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:16 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Whistleblowers reached out directly to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott this week, escalating their continued concerns about denials and delays in getting Texans critical medical support and food assistance. The anonymous Texas Health and Human Services employees sent the letter to the governor on Tuesday -- marking their third outcry about issues with the agency's systems, staffing and leadership which, they say, contributed to tens of thousands of people erroneously losing Medicaid coverage earlier this year. BACKGROUND: Concerned state employees say internal errors put thousands at risk of losing Medicaid coverage "Regrettably, it appears that the full extent of these challenges may not have been adequately conveyed by our leadership, hence our decision to provide you with this comprehensive overview," the whistleblowers stated in the letter to the governor. KXAN reached out to the governor's office for comment and is waiting to hear back. Whistleblowers first flagged t...

What happens with whistleblower settlement, money promised following Paxton trial

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:16 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — If you're wondering what happens with the initial whistleblower case and the roughly $3 million settlement now that the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is over, it was left in the air. The actual settlement agreement was never finalized.In March, the plaintiffs filed with the Texas Supreme Court to reinstate the case. PAST COVERAGE: Texas Attorney General Paxton under investigation for whistleblower settlement Paxton himself was not the one being sued, but rather the Office of the Attorney General.Four former top aides sued for wrongful firing and retaliation after they accused Paxton of using his office to help Nate Paul, an Austin real estate developer.The plaintiffs said they had evidence that showed Paxton abused his office to give special favors to Paul in return for high-dollar campaign contributions and undisclosed gifts.The OAG agreed to settle with the former aides for $3.3 million but court filings showed there were concerns over a ...