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Rapper Travis Scott will not face criminal charges in deadly crowd surge at Texas festival

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:55 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas grand jury declined to indict rap superstar Travis Scott in a criminal investigation of a deadly crowd surge at the 2021 Astroworld festival, where some spectators were packed so tightly they could not move their arms or even breathe, his attorney and prosecutors said Thursday.Lawyer Kent Schaffer confirmed that the Harris County grand jury had met and decided not to indict his client on any criminal charges stemming from the concert.“He never encouraged people to do anything that resulted in other people being hurt,” Schaffer said, adding that the decision is “a great relief.”Circumstances of the deaths limited what charges prosecutors were able to present before the grand jury, eliminating potential counts such as murder, manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, said Alycia Harvey, an assistant district attorney with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.That left prosecutors to focus on possible counts of endangering a child in conne...

Marlins sweep Red Sox as silent Boston lineup ruins Brayan Bello’s no-hit bid

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:55 GMT

On a quick, quiet Thursday evening at Fenway Park, Brayan Bello carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning.Then, as has happened far too many times in winnable games this year, the Red Sox fell to their opponents.In front of a sellout crowd of 36,559, the visitors from Miami completed a series sweep with a 2-0 victory, and only needed two hours and 21 minutes to do so.Inning after inning, goose eggs went up on Fenway Park’s iconic Green Monster scoreboard as the pitchers dueled.First pitch was at 6:13 p.m., and by 7:20, they’d already played five frames.By the seventh-inning stretch, Bello was the first Red Sox pitcher to pitch at least seven innings without allowing a hit since Jon Lester’s no-hitter on May 19, 2008.An impressive achievement, especially for someone so young,Bello’s bid ended in the eighth inning with back-to-back infield singles to Jean Segura and Joey Wendle. Until that point, he’d been nearly perfect; Jazz Chisholm Jr. reached base o...

Big 6-run inning propels the Chicago White Sox to a 9-7 win over the Los Angeles Angels and a series split

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:55 GMT

The Chicago White Sox found themselves down three runs after two innings.Leading off the third, Zach Remillard had one thing on mind: “Get on base.”“We’ve got a lot of guys on this team that drive the baseball a long way and if we have guys on base we’ve got a chance to score and that’s the goal,” Remillard said.The second baseman singled, which began an inning of small ball that had big results. The Sox scored six runs in the third to rally for a 9-7 victory in front of 27,630 on Thursday at Angel Stadium.“If anyone questions if these guys want it, they play hard and to the end,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “That’s your answer right there.”The Sox earned a split in the four-game series, as pitcher Lance Lynn rebounded from a sluggish start and the offense kept the line moving in the third.“I hope we can keep pushing and keep the good energy going,” said shortstop Tim Anderson, who had two hits and sc...

Woman, suspect killed in North County shootings identified

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:55 GMT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- Authorities on Thursday released the identities of the victim and suspect, both of whom police say were involved in a relationship, killed last week following two deadly shootings in Oceanside.Kimberly Foster, 34, was identified as the victim while the suspect as 28-year-old Dorian Larkin, Lt. Adam Sharki with the San Diego Police Department said in a news release.The shooting occurred June 22 around 11:56 p.m. in the 500 block of Fredricks Avenue, according to police. When officers arrived at the location, they found a woman inside the residence with gunshot wounds, authorities said. Detectives determined the victim, who died from her injuries, was killed by a man she was in a relationship with.The following day around 2:38 a.m., deputies with the Riverside County Sheriff's Office found the suspect in a vehicle near Interstate 15 and Winchester Road in Temecula, Sharki said. When law enforcement attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver drove away from deputies...

Biden talks Supreme Court and Russia but also media and McCain in rare network interview

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:55 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden rarely gives network interviews, and when he sat down in the MSNBC studio on Thursday, it came at an especially busy time, with the Supreme Court having just overturned the use of affirmative action in college admissions and in the aftermath of a revolt in Russia.The nearly 20-minute conversation addressed those matters. But it also veered heavily into topics like criticism of the media and light-hearted discussion of the late Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, who was a friend of Biden’s.When Donald Trump was president, he was criticized for giving interviews to sympathetic media outlets where the questions were often soft and even fawning. Biden, meanwhile, has done far fewer formal interviews than his immediate predecessors. His last network interview was in early May and also on MSNBC. This time, interviewer Nicolle Wallace, who was White House communications director under President George W. Bush and worked on McCain’s 2008 p...

Former New Mexico priest charged with sexual coercion of minor in text messages

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:55 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A former Catholic priest with a lengthy career at parishes across New Mexico has been arrested on criminal charges of coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity through text messages, federal law enforcement authorities announced Thursday.The U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI field office in Albuquerque said that Daniel Balizan of Springer, New Mexico, was arrested in connection with a grand jury indictment. A redacted copy of the indictment accuses 61-year-old Balizan of knowingly attempting to coerce an unnamed minor into sexual activity in August and September 2012 in Santa Fe County.The charges carry a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison upon conviction and up to a lifetime behind bars. It was unclear whether Balizan had a legal representative. An initial court appearance was scheduled for Friday.A timeline of Balizan’s church assignments from investigators show that he served at Santa Maria de la Paz Parish, starting in Jun...

Hiroshima peace park and Pearl Harbor memorial will work together to promote peace

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:55 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor, two symbols of World War II animosity between Japan and the United States, are now promoting peace and friendship through a sister park arrangement.U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel and Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui signed a sister park agreement on Thursday for Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park and the Pearl Harbor National Memorial of Hawaii.“Nobody can go to Pearl Harbor, and nobody can go to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and enter the front door, walk out the exit door and be the same person,” Emanuel said at the signing ceremony at the American Embassy in Tokyo. “I think the hope here is that we inspire people from all over the United States and all over Japan to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial and to visit Pearl Harbor so they can learn the spirit of reconciliation,” Emanuel said.Under the sister park arrangement, the two parks will promote exchanges and share experiences in restoring historic structures and landscapes, the use of virtu...

Man wanted on Jan. 6 charges arrested with weapons near Barack Obama’s Washington home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:55 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man armed with explosive materials and weapons, and wanted for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was arrested Thursday in the Washington neighborhood where former President Barack Obama lives, law enforcement officials said. Taylor Taranto, 37, was spotted by law enforcement a few blocks from the former president’s home and fled, though he was chased by U.S. Secret Service agents. Taranto has an open warrant on charges related to the insurrection, two law enforcement officials said. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing case and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. They said Taranto also had made social media threats against a public figure. He was found with weapons and materials to create an explosive device, though one had not been built, one of the officials said. No one was injured. It was not clear whether the Obamas were at their home at the time of his arrest. Met...

Fugitive suspect in 1984 killing returned to Florida following arrest in California

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:55 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A man arrested earlier this month in California has been returned to Florida to face charges in the 1984 killing of a woman, authorities said. Donald Santini, 65, was booked into a Florida jail early Wednesday morning on a charge of first-degree murder, according to a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office statement. Florida detectives had traveled to San Diego, California, following Santini’s June 7 arrest, and he was later extradited to Tampa, Florida.“The arrest of Donald Santini brings closure to a long-standing cold case and provides justice for the victim and her family after nearly four decades of waiting,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. “Let’s not forget the tireless work that has gone into this case over the years, the resources, and expertise to pursue justice for Cynthia Wood.”Santini had been on the run since June 1984, when Florida authorities obtained an arrest warrant linking him to the strangling death of Wood,...

Storms packing high winds buffet Indiana, Illinois, cutting power to more than 400,000 customers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:55 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Strong storms packing winds gusting as high as 70 mph (112.65 kilometers per hour) buffeted Indiana and Illinois on Thursday, cutting power to more than 400,000 customers at times.The storms toppled semitrailers on highways and blew tree limbs into power lines and onto houses and cars, causing sporadic damage, news outlets reported. When will air quality improve? Tom Skilling explains The National Weather Service said it measured a 70 mph wind gust near Indianapolis International Airport at 3:47 p.m. EDT.Shortly before 6 pm EDT, Ameren Illinois reported more than 175,000 customers without service, Duke Energy tallied more than 147,000 customers in central and southern Indiana in the dark, AES Indiana said more than 49,000 customers in the Indianapolis area had no power, and City Water, Light and Power in Springfield, Illinois, tallied more than 34,000 customers without service.