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Senate talks terror prevention since Boston Marathon bombing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The chair of the U.S. Senate subcommittee on emerging national security threats said at a hearing Wednesday that much has been learned about enhancing emergency response and counterterrorism efforts in the decade since the Boston Marathon bombing, but more can still be done.Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire used her opening remarks at the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight Hearing in Washington to reflect on changes since two pressure-cooker bombs went off near the finish line of the race on April 15, 2013.“I am proud of the rapid response to the horror of the attack on that day, and last week, on the 10th anniversary of the bombing, I was proud to watch joyful crowds urging on determined race participants,” she said. “However, there is still much work to do to strengthen our ability to prevent and respond to emerging threats.”Former Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis testified that among the biggest changes since the bombing have...

We Build The Wall founder sentenced to 4 years in prison

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The co-founder of a fundraising group linked to Steve Bannon that promised to help Donald Trump construct a wall along the southern U.S. border was sentenced to four years and three months in prison on Wednesday for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from donors.Brian Kolfage, a decorated Air Force veteran who lost both of his legs and an arm in the Iraq War, previously pleaded guilty for his role in siphoning donations from the We Build the Wall campaign.A co-defendant, financier Andrew Badolato, was also sentenced to three years for aiding the effort. He had also pleaded guilty. A third man involved in siphoning funds from the wall project, Colorado businessman Tim Shea, won’t be sentenced until June.Kolfage and Badolato were also ordered to pay $25 million in restitution to the victims.Absent from the case was Bannon, Trump’s former top political adviser. He was initially arrested aboard a luxury yacht and faced federal fraud charges along with ...

Cedric the Entertainer has novel coming in September

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Call him the Cedric the Novelist. Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, announced Wednesday that it will publish a novel in September by Cedric the Entertainer. “Flipping Boxcars,” billed as a “valentine” to 1940s crime fiction, is scheduled for Sept. 12.“Flipping Boxcars is an homage to my grandfather, who I never met, but I’ve been told I am a lot like,” Cedric the Entertainer, who stars in the CBS-TV comedy “The Neighborhood” and has appeared in dozens of films and TV shows, said in a statement. “This is an intriguing novel filled with surprises, thrills, triumphs, and the heartaches of a family connected through time and circumstance.”The novel is co-written by Alan Eisenstock, who has worked on books with George Lopez and Robert Schimmel.The Associated Press

Argentina: A desperate search for a door as currency tumbles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Antonela Massarelli desperately needed a front door for the new house she and her family will move into this weekend in a Buenos Aires suburb.The 29-year-old mother of two said she found one prospect Tuesday morning at about 20,000 pesos, but noted with exasperation that the price went up by afternoon to more than 30,000. And store owners — faced with potentially higher costs to replace doors the next day — mostly wanted to hold onto their merchandise.“They didn’t want to sell,” she said. “I went to a lot of places and they were closing, they said, ‘I can’t sell to you’, ‘I can’t sell to you’ and the doors they did want to sell were of a really crappy material.”Her eventual purchase, at 31,900 Argentinian pesos, amounted to US$65 at black-market rates, US$144 at the official rate.Massarelli’s struggle with the door reflected the uncertainty in Argentina as its currency has sharply depreciated over the past week in the informal market, raising fresh que...

Tornado Watch in effect for parts of the area until 10 p.m.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A Tornado Watch is in effect for parts of the area north and west of Travis County until 10 p.m. this evening for the potential of tornadoes.Severe thunderstorms are possible even outside of the Tornado Watch, including in Austin this evening.There will be storms tonight with the arrival of an upper-level disturbance and a cold front moving southeast over the area. Storms should start advancing through the area after 9 to 10 p.m. starting in San Saba County.The Storm Prediction Center updated its risk area for tonight to include most of the area in the slight risk (Category 2 out of 5) for severe storms. It should be noted that far northern Lampasas and the northern half of Milam Counties are on the southern edge of the enhanced risk area (Category 3 out of 5).Overnight threat of severe thunderstormsStorm threats for tonightShowers may linger past 6 a.m. until around 9 a.m. Thursday followed by clearing to a mostly sunny sky tomorrow afternoon. Saturday night sto...

Tracking Lady Bird Lake deaths in Austin

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — People in Austin are questioning a series of deaths in lake waters in Austin.Online reports have been swirling in recent weeks about a possible connection between the deaths in Lady Bird Lake. Texas expert explores why conspiracies swirl around Lady Bird Lake deaths This report aims to provide KXAN viewers with full transparency and facts. As of now, there is no strong connection to the deaths, according to Austin Police. “There are a lot of allegations that there’s a serial killer, but there’s no proof or evidence in any of our investigations to sustain that,” APD Assistant Chief Jeff Greenwalt told KXAN in April.APD said the "circumstances, exact locations and demographics surrounding these cases vary.”“One common theme of the drownings in Austin this year is the combination of alcohol and easy access to Lady Bird Lake,” the department continued.Deaths in Lady Bird LakeSo far this year, there have been at least four bodies that were found in Lady Bird Lake in 202...

Affidavit provides gruesome details in Texas teen's deadly stabbing of parents

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

PRIMERA, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A probable cause affidavit revealed new details in a Texas teen's deadly stabbing of his parents.Dallas Scott Gilbert, 18, was arrested on charges of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to Cameron County records.New details of the attackAt 11:23 p.m., Tuesday, April 18, officers were dispatched to the 21800 block of Stuart Place Road. When they entered the home they found a woman, Angela Watt Gilbert, in a pool of blood in the living room. They also saw a man, identified as her husband and Dallas' father, holding down Dallas.The father began yelling that Dallas had stabbed them both, the affidavit stated. Angela died en route to the hospital after being stabbed "approximately over 8 times on different areas of her body with a black handle and silver blade kitchen knife," the affidavit stated. Police spoke with Dallas, who told them he was outside talking to his mother about various topics before the attack."When all of a sud...

NFL Draft: Vikings have many needs, few picks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

With the 23rd pick in the first round, and just five picks in seven rounds overall, it could well be a mildly slow NFL Draft for the Vikings when it begins with Round 1 on Thursday night.As it stood on Wednesday, the Vikings were set to pick too late Thursday to nab a super-hyped player who would send fans’ hearts racing — quarterbacks Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud, or Alabama defensive end Will Anderson Jr. — and had too few later picks to package in a deal to move up.On the other hand, the Vikings seem to have a lot of unfinished business that can most effectively be addressed starting Thursday, and that could bring some surprises.Minnesota has decisions to make on running back Dalvin Cook and edge rusher Za’Darius Smith, signed but apparently unhappy and/or unwanted. They could be moved for late-round draft picks, or perhaps as part of a package for a depth player. And in their quest to find a successor to quarterback Kirk Cousins, entering a contract year, the Vikings reportedly ha...

Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda leaves with injury in blowout loss to Yankees

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

For the third time in four games this season, Kenta Maeda’s pitching start on Wednesday ended with him walking off the field alongside a trainer.In his season debut earlier this season, his first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2021, Maeda left in the sixth inning after a brilliant outing, feeling some fatigue. He completed six innings in his next start, though afterwards the Twins decided to skip his next turn in the rotation, citing the fatigue and soreness he felt post-start.Maeda’s third start was disrupted in the second inning last time out when he was hit flush on the ankle by a comebacker, crumpling to a heap before gingerly walking off the field.After questions all week about his status, Maeda started on Wednesday and, two visits from the trainer later, he walked off with Nick Paparesta. In between was one of the worst starts of his career during which he gave up 11 runs (10 earned) in the Twins’ 12-6 loss to the New York Yankees on Wednesday afternoon at Target...

‘Psycho bouldering’ at the End of the World

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

As I approach the End of the World, a dark seaside cliff of hardened lava, my gaze pivots between the clifftop and the rolling swell of ocean below. The rocks look a lot higher in person than the photos led me to believe. Adrenaline hits me.End of the World is on the west side of the Big Island of Hawaii, where my wife, son and our nanny, Sofia, took an eight-day vacation this month. Climbing was merely icing on the cake of what was supposed to be a freediving trip for me, but things didn’t quite turn out as planned.At the side of the cave we eye potential routes and mime sequences we envision. “You can’t fall in the middle of the cave because the tide will smash you into the rocks,” a local teenager tells us. “I’ve seen people medivacked out of here.”Great, I think. Just what we need: another trip to the hospital.On the first one, fie days ago, I went in for what I thought was a sinus infection and ended up COVID positive. So much for freediving. Or much of anything really.By the l...