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Minnesota mayor faces pressure to resign or meet LGBTQ+ group’s demands after his comments on Pride

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

OWATONNA, Minn. (AP) — Members of an LGBTQ+ group are calling on the mayor of a southern Minnesota city to meet their demands — or resign — after he asked pastors at a church holding a Pride event if there would be stripper poles in the sanctuary and posted a public prayer alluding to “sin and brokenness” at the event.In an open letter to Mayor Tom Kuntz, a Republican, and the Owatonna City Council, Rainbowatonna organizer Nathan Black said Kuntz used his elected position to harass and intimidate people involved in the city’s Pride celebration on July 8, the Star Tribune reported. The Pride celebration included a service at Associated Church, festivities at a pavilion and a drag show after-party at the Owatonna Arts Center. In his public letter, Black said Kuntz spoke to pastors at the church about two weeks before the service. He said the mayor appeared to be upset and asked several “bizarre” questions, including whether there would be stripper poles in the sanctuary. Black s...

Florida family accused of selling fake COVID-19 cure through online church goes on trial in Miami

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — A Florida family accused of selling a toxic industrial bleach as a fake COVID-19 cure through their online church is on trial this week in Miami.Mark Grenon, 65, and his sons, 37-year-old Jonathan, 35-year-old Joseph and 29-year-old Jordan, are all charged with conspiring to defraud the United States and deliver misbranded drugs, according to court records. The Grenons are representing themselves but declined to make opening statements as the trial began Monday, the Miami Herald reported. They have pleaded not guilty.Prosecutors called the Grenons “con men” and “snake-oil salesmen” and said the Bradenton family’s Genesis II Church of Health and Healing sold $1 million worth of their so-called Miracle Mineral Solution. In videos, it was pitched as a purported cure for 95% of known diseases, including COVID-19, Alzheimer’s, autism, brain cancer, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis, prosecutors said.What the Grenons were selling was actually chlorine dioxide, officials s...

Stores see increase in ticket sales ahead of estimated $900 million Powerball jackpot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

ST. JOSEPH. Mo. (AP) — The Powerball jackpot estimated at $900 million heading into Monday night’s drawing — the third biggest Powerball jackpot and the seventh largest in U.S. lottery history — was luring more hopeful ticket buyers into shops. Debbie Kempf, store director at Cosentino’s Price Chopper in St. Joseph, Missouri, said the store sees an increase in sales as the jackpot gets bigger.“As it grows and the hype increases, you know, everyone gets kind of excited. So that’s where you get all those people who don’t generally buy tickets think, ‘Why not? Why not me?’” Kempf said, adding that she also sees “your regulars” who buy tickets every week but may buy a few more as the jackpot increases.“Sometimes you’ll see groups of people or families go together and pool their money and to purchase a larger amount — you know, more opportunity,” she said.Ticket buyers for Monday’s drawing have a chance at either $900 million paid out in yearly increments or a $465.1 million, one-t...

Russian fighter jets fly dangerously close to US warplane over Syria

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Russian fighter jet flew very close to a U.S. surveillance aircraft over Syria, forcing it to go through the turbulent wake and putting the lives of the four American crew members in danger, U.S. officials said Monday.The officials said the incident, which happened just before noon EDT on Sunday, was a significant escalation in what has been a string of encounters between U.S. and Russian aircraft in Syria in recent weeks. The intercept by the Russian Su-35 impeded the U.S. crew’s ability to safely operate their MC-12 aircraft, the officials said, calling it a new level of unsafe behavior that could result in an accident or loss of life. In recent weeks, Russian fighter jets have repeatedly harassed U.S. unmanned MQ-9 drones, but the latest incident raised alarms because it endangered American lives.The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of a military operation, would not say how close the Russian jet got to the U.S. warplane. The M...

Virginia says governor weighs circumstances of crimes in deciding on restoring felons’ voting rights

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — As Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin weighs whether to restore the civil rights of convicted felons who have served their time, he is considering at least some of the circumstances of their crimes, his administration said Monday in a letter to the state NAACP. The Republican governor is “less likely to quickly restore the voting rights of anyone who used a firearm in the commission of a crime,” Secretary of the Commonwealth Kay Coles James wrote to Robert Barnette Jr., president of the NAACP Virginia State Conference. Youngkin will also “generally speaking, but not always” work to restore the voting rights of those who committed nonviolent crimes, James said in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press. In Virginia a felony conviction automatically results in the loss of certain rights such as voting, serving on a jury, running for office or carrying a firearm. The governor has the sole discretion to restore them — with the exception of firearms rights, ...

Actors and writers on strike are united and determined in the face of a long summer standoff

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Solidarity and stamina were picket-line themes Monday as striking screenwriters and actors in New York and Los Angeles braced for a long, hot summer standoff with studios. Picketers emphasized unity between writers, who have been on the lines for more than two months, and performers, who are only on Day 2 of striking — as well as camaraderie between highly paid actors and those with spare screen credits who struggle to scrape by. Kevin Bacon, who was among the famous faces picketing among unknowns outside Viacom headquarters in New York, said his presence was about “seeing people out here and being aware that not all actors are super high paid actors, that they are working class people who are trying to make a living.”One such working actor, Whitney Morgan Cox, who has appeared on the CBS series “Criminal Minds,” said it was “powerful” to see writers and actors come together who don’t often work simultaneously in production.“I don’t think people necessarily ...

Children lost in flooding as US endures extreme weather, from smoke up north to heat in the West

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

WASHINGTON CROSSING, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania authorities drew on 100 people, drones and cadaver dogs Monday in their search for two missing children whose family car was swept away in flash flooding that ravaged the East Coast over the weekend. Other parts of the country endured threateningly high temperatures and severe air pollution from Canadian wildfires.In eastern Pennsylvania, authorities described Monday’s search for missing Matilda Sheils, 2, and her 9-month-old brother Conrad Sheils as a “massive undertaking” along a creek that drains into the Delaware River. The children are members of a Charleston, South Carolina, family that was visiting relatives and friends when they got caught in a flash flood Saturday. The children’s father, Jim Sheils, grabbed their 4-year-old son, while the children’s mother, Katie Seley, and a grandmother grabbed the other children, said Upper Makefield Township Fire Chief Tim Brewer. Sheils and his son made it to safety, Seley a...

Gag order issued ahead of Texas AG Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial after ‘inflammatory’ remarks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A top Texas Republican who will oversee Attorney General Ken Paxton ‘s impeachment trial issued a sweeping gag order Monday that scolded “inflammatory” public comments made by lawyers on both sides ahead of the historic September proceedings.The order by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the powerful leader of the state Senate, underscored how Paxton’s fight for his political survival over accusations of abuse of office has drawn some of Texas’ brashest and highest-profile legal figures.The impact was swift: Houston attorney Tony Buzbee, Paxton’s lead attorney, canceled a news conference scheduled for Tuesday after the order was issued. The news conference had been announced in a statement that accused a “kangaroo court” in the Texas House of driving the impeachment. “The court finds that individuals involved in the trial of impeachment will likely continue to make public prejudicial and inflammatory statements unless this order is issued,” Patrick w...

Several top editors at Penguin Random House accept buyout offers, layoffs also underway

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Some of publishing’s most celebrated and enduring editors are leaving Penguin Random House after accepting buyout packages. Meanwhile, an undetermined number of company-wide layoffs has begun, according to publishing officials.Longtime editors of such prominent writers as Anne Rice, Lorrie Moore and Nobel laureates Alice Munro and Elie Wiesel are among those stepping down by the end of the year. Penguin Random House declined Monday to comment on any individual staff members, but multiple publishing officials with knowledge of the buyouts confirmed that departing editors include Vicky Wilson, Jonathan Segal and Ann Close. The officials were not authorized to discuss the decisions and asked to not be identified. “All of us at Penguin Random House greatly respect the life-changing decisions of those U.S. colleagues who have chosen to take the recent company-wide Voluntary Separation Offer,” reads a Penguin Random House statement provided Monday to The Associated P...

Family speaks out after 10-year-old boy flung from Antioch carnival ride

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

ANTIOCH, Ill. — A day after a 10-year-old boy was thrown from a carnival ride in the Far North Suburbs, a family member came forward to give an update on his condition and how the surrounding community has come together to support the family."My daughter called me in hysterics as soon as it happened. She didn't know what to do," said Dawne Pohlman, grandmother of 10-year-old Huntley Daniels. "The support has been there, 100%. Antioch's behind him, we've gotten all kinds of calls and texts. The support has been really good."Pohlman said the family is shaken up by what happened, but that her grandson is tough, resilient, and loves his cars—saying that he can spot a Ferrari from a mile away.Huntley was among the many kids enjoying the carnival known as 'The Taste of Antioch,' an event the family has been to many times over the years, when tragedy struck around 2:40 p.m. Sunday.Huntley slipped through his harness on a ride called 'Moby Dick,' and was thrown from the ride. According to o...