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Baltimore celebrates historic 20% drop in homicides even as gun violence remains high

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:34:07 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — Long plagued by rampant gun violence, Baltimore recorded less than 300 homicides last year for the first time in nearly a decade, ending a surge that began in 2015 following the death of Freddie Gray, which sparked civil unrest and prompted widespread calls for police reform.The 20% annual decrease, which city leaders called the largest ever, suggests Baltimore’s ongoing anti-violence efforts are working.“We’re finally seeing those efforts paying off and saving lives,” Mayor Brandon Scott said at a news conference earlier this week.To some extent, Baltimore’s 2023 data is reflected nationwide as many cities have reported declines over the past several months following a pandemic peak. But to Baltimoreans whose loved ones were among the 263 people killed last year in the city, the positive trend is bittersweet. Dozens of mourners gathered outside City Hall for a candlelight vigil Wednesday night where elected officials and community leaders read aloud the victims’ na...

Police officer convicted of killing a Colorado man is set to learn if he will spend time behind bars

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:34:07 GMT

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado police officer convicted of killing Elijah McClain, a young Black man walking home from a store, is expected to learn Friday whether a judge will sentence him to prison or he will receive probation. McClain’s mother also may speak at the sentencing hearing.Among the three officers charged in McClain’s 2019 death, Randy Roedema was the only one found guilty and was the most senior officer who initially responded to the scene. A jury convicted the former Aurora officer in October of criminally negligent homicide, which is a felony, and third-degree assault, which is a misdemeanor. McClain’s killing received little attention at the time, but gained renewed interest the following year as mass protests swept the nation after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. McClain’s death became a rallying cry for critics of racial injustice in policing. In a separate trial, two paramedics were recently convicted for injecting 23-year-old McClain wit...

Teen kills 6th grader, wounds 5 others and takes own life in Iowa high school shooting, police say

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:34:07 GMT

PERRY, Iowa (AP) — A teen armed with a shotgun and a handgun unleashed terror at an Iowa high school on the first day of classes in the new year, authorities said, killing a sixth grader and wounding five others as people hunkered down in classrooms, barricaded offices and fled the barrage of bullets. The suspect, a 17-year-old student at the school in Perry, died of what investigators believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation official said. An administrator, later identified by his alma mater as Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger, was among the five wounded Thursday as students returned from winter break. Authorities identified the shooter as Dylan Butler, 17, but provided no information about a possible motive. Two friends and their mother who spoke with The Associated Press said Butler was a quiet person who had been bullied for years.Authorities said Butler had a pump-action shotgun and a small-caliber handgun. Mitch Mortvedt, ...

California hires guards to monitor businessman’s other sites under I-10 after freeway fire

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:34:07 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — More than a month after an arson fire at a storage yard damaged a key Los Angeles freeway, the state has hired security guards to watch out for smoke and other trouble at three additional sites beneath Interstate 10 that were leased to the same bankrupt businessman.Associated Press journalists visited the properties and saw wooden pallets and other hazardous and flammable material much like what fed the Nov. 11 inferno under the freeway, which is used by 300,000 vehicles daily. Rats scurried beneath cars, trucks and RVs in various states of repair as electrical wiring snaked across the ground.The state has subcontracted the security services as it fights to evict Ahmad Anthony Nowaid and scores of tenants subleasing through him in violation of his contracts with the California Department of Transportation (or Caltrans), according to court records.They are due back in court this month.No arrests have been announced in the arson case that forced a one-week closure o...

Capitol riot, 3 years later: Hundreds of convictions, yet 1 major mystery is unsolved

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:34:07 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of far-right extremist groups. Former police officers. An Olympic gold medalist swimmer. And active duty U.S. Marines. They are among the hundreds of people who have been convicted in the massive prosecution of the Jan 6, 2021, riot in the three years since the stunned nation watched the U.S. Capitol attack unfold on live TV. Washington’s federal courthouse remains flooded with trials, guilty plea hearings and sentencings stemming from what has become the largest criminal investigation in American history. And the hunt for suspects is far from over. “We can not replace votes and deliberation with violence and intimidation,” Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told reporters on Thursday. Authorities are still working to identify more than 80 people wanted for acts of violence at the Capitol. And they continue to regularly make new arrests, even as some Jan. 6 defendants are being released from prison after completing their s...

Families in Gaza search desperately for food and water, wait in long lines for aid

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:34:07 GMT

MUWASI, Gaza Strip (AP) — Stranded in a corner of southern Gaza, members of the Abu Jarad family are clinging to a strict survival routine.They fled their comfortable three-bedroom home in northern Gaza after the Israel-Hamas war broke out nearly three months ago. The 10-person family now squeezes into a 16-square meter (172-square foot) tent on a garbage-strewn sandy plot, part of a sprawling encampment of displaced Palestinians.Every family member is assigned daily tasks, from collecting twigs to build a fire for cooking, to scouring the city’s markets for vegetables. But their best efforts can’t mask their desperation.At night “dogs are hovering over the tents,” said Awatif Abu Jarad, an older member of the family. “We are living like dogs!”Palestinians seeking refuge in southern Gaza say every day has become a struggle to find food, water, medicine and working bathrooms. All the while, they live in fear of Israeli airstrikes and the growing threat of illnesses.Israel’s bombardme...

Jobs report for December will likely conclude another solid year of hiring in 2023

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:34:07 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bringing resurgent inflation down was never expected to be so relatively pain-free.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned of hard times ahead after the Fed began jacking up interest rates in the spring of 2022 to attack high inflation. Economists predicted that the much higher borrowing costs that resulted would cause a recession, with layoffs and rising unemployment, in 2023.Yet the recession never arrived, and none appears to be on the horizon. The nation’s labor market, though cooler than in the sizzling-hot years of 2022 and 2023, is still cranking out enough jobs to keep the unemployment rate near historic lows.The trend toward slower, but still healthy, hiring likely continued in December. The Labor Department is expected to report Friday that employers added a still-solid 160,000 jobs last month, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet. That would mean that the economy had added 2.7 million jobs in 2023 — an average of 226,000...

Nikola Jokic makes 39-foot buzzer beater as Nuggets complete stunning comeback at Warriors

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:34:07 GMT

In a game that seemed over, the Nuggets erased an 18-point deficit in the last seven minutes to stun the Warriors 130-127 on Nikola Jokic’s 39-foot buzzer beater Thursday night in San Francisco.AG’s dog-bite return gameHow did the Nuggets unlock their most dramatic comeback of the season, and of many seasons? Not just with the magic of Jokic, but with the offense of a player with a stitched-up shooting hand. Aaron Gordon, in his second game back from his injuries sustained from Rottweiler bites on Christmas, scored a season-high 30 points, including 13 in the final minutes after Denver trailed 121-103.The last game he played before the dog bite was against the Warriors, and Golden State dared him to shoot open 3-pointers in that game. He attacked defenders as a driver, post player and even outside shooter Thursday night as though he were offended by that tactic. The aggression was to his team’s benefit as he fought his way to the line in crucial moments.Vintage spl...

Subway or monorail? Heavy rail supporters crash presentation in Sherman Oaks

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:34:07 GMT

Plans to connect the San Fernando Valley with Westside Los Angeles via public transportation and provide new options to underserved areas along the way continue to be contentious for supporters of dueling methods of transit.The Sepulveda Transit Corridor project will connect the Valley to the Westside by navigating the natural barrier of the Santa Monica Mountains. LA Metro wants to connect the two regions by railway by either tunneling underground or following roughly the same path as the 405 Freeway.Six options are on the table, with each varying in total cost, transit time, amount and location of stops along the route, and whether the vehicles are automated or operated by a driver.But what type of railway to build is proving to be the big hot-button issue.On Thursday, a meeting meant to promote one of the possible solutions was crashed, respectfully, by supporters of the other.Of the six project proposals, three use traditional heavy-rail trains like subways, while the other thre...

Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers donate $1 million towards Japan earthquake relief efforts 

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:34:07 GMT

The Los Angeles Dodgers, along with their superstar new signing Shohei Ohtani, are making a large donation towards earthquake relief efforts in Ohtani's home country of Japan. The Dodgers and Guggenheim Baseball are donating $1 million to support those affected by the 7.6 magnitude quake that struck in western Japan on New Year’s Day, the team said in a statement on social media. “Our thoughts are with all of Japan in the wake of this tragedy,” the team’s statement read.  Video shows man claiming to be famous bite, kick officer during arrest at bank Ohtani is also making his own personal contribution, the Dodgers said, but exactly how much was not immediately disclosed. “I would like to thank those who have joined in the recovery effort, and my hope is that we continue to come together to support those whose lives have been upended,” Ohtani said in a statement released along with the team's statement. The New Year's Day earthquake killed at least 84 people, Reuters reported on Th...