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Cops accused of child rape, road rage suspended by state law enforcement regulators

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:23 GMT

Law enforcement regulators suspended the policing licenses of a former deputy chief in Hopkinton accused of raping a teenage girl and a Hingham officer accused of pulling a gun and yelling racial slurs at a person in an apparent road rage incident, according to records released Friday.The state’s Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission is required under a 2020 police reform law to suspend the policing licenses of officers who are arrested, charged, or indicted for a felony and revoke the licenses of those convicted of a felony. Suspensions remain in place until a final decision or revocation is made by regulators.The two new suspensions of former Hopkinton Police Deputy Chief John Porter and Hingham Officer Joel Salituri bring the total number of suspended cops in Massachusetts to 33 as of May 20. A full list is available on the POST Commission’s website.Porter pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of raping a 15-year-old student while he was a school resource officer. ...

Field Museum debuts Spinosaurus exhibit featuring largest predatory dinosaur

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:23 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — The newest addition to the Field Museum on Chicago’s lakefront will give visitors a glimpse of the largest predatory dinosaur yet discovered via a 46-foot (14.02 meter) cast of a Spinosaurus skeleton suspended high above the museum’s main hall.Field Museum officials unveiled the cast with its distinctive fin and crocodile-like jaws on Friday. It will be available for visitors starting Saturday.Scientists have long struggled to interpret Spinosaurus fossils to determine the animal’s behavior in life, uncertain whether it swam while hunting or simply waded into water in search of prey. Field Museum researcher Matteo Fabbri said the cast is about 60% of a skeleton, the most complete specimen of the species.“Spinosaurus is a very weird animal,” Fabbri said. “The proportions of the entire body are incredibly weird in comparison to any other dinosaur. The tail is extremely long, the legs are incredibly short, and the skull reminds (us) of the ones we find ...

S&P/TSX composite jumps more than 350 points, U.S. stock markets also climb

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:23 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index jumped more than 350 points Friday, driven by gains in energy, industrials, financials and metals. Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets also rose after the latest round of jobs data showed better-than-expected hiring for the month of May even as unemployment rose and wage pressure eased.The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 352.38 points, or 1.79 per cent, to 20,024.63.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 701.19 points, or over two per cent, to 33,762.76. The S&P 500 index increased by 61.35 points to 4,282.37,while the Nasdaq composite grew 139.78 points to 13,240.77.“I think it’s just in some ways an oversold bounce,” said John Zechner, chairman and lead equity manager at J Zechner Associates.“I mean, you stretch a rubber band too far in one direction, and you’re going to snap it back a little bit the other way at some point.”The markets have been quite narrow in recent months, said Zechner, noting that on the S&P 500,...

Bolivian Catholics unfazed by sex scandals as they gear up for massive festival

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:23 GMT

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Catholic devotees in Bolivia prepared for one of the country’s biggest religious celebrations this weekend at a time when the church in this Andean country has been rocked by an increasing number of sex abuse scandals.The faithful who were gearing up for the Jesus of the Great Power festival Saturday insisted that cases of abuse that have come to light in recent weeks would not affect the folk-religious festival in La Paz, which fuses together Catholic and local Indigenous traditions.Tens of thousands of people will descend on the capital Saturday wearing colorful garb to dance to the beat of thousands of musicians playing traditional Indigenous music in a demonstration of their faith. What started out as a small celebration in the Great Power neighborhood a century ago now takes over much of the capital.Leaders of the Catholic Church acknowledged this week that the church had been “deaf” to the suffering of victims of sexual abuse amid fallout from the case i...

Utah district bans Bible in elementary and middle schools ‘due to vulgarity or violence’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:23 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Good Book is being treated like a bad book in Utah after a parent frustrated by efforts to ban materials from schools convinced a suburban district that some Bible verses were too vulgar or violent for younger children.The 72,000-student Davis School District north of Salt Lake City removed the Bible from its elementary and middle schools while keeping it in high schools after a committee reviewed the scripture in response to a parental complaint. The district has removed other titles, including Sherman Alexie’s “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” and John Green’s “Looking for Alaska,” following a 2022 state law requiring districts to include parents in decisions over what constitutes “sensitive material.”A district spokesperson, Chris Williams, said it doesn’t differentiate between requests to review books. The reviews are handled by a committee of made up of teachers, parents and administrators in the predominantly conservative community whe...

Connecticut lawmakers vote to restrict marriage licenses for anyone under age 18

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:23 GMT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut lawmakers voted Friday to tighten the state’s marriage laws, prohibiting anyone under age 18 from being issued a marriage license under any circumstance.The legislation cleared the Senate unanimously, following a 98-45 bipartisan vote last month in the House of Representatives. It updates a 2017 anti-child marriage law that advocates contend created a dangerous loophole, leaving young people at risk of coercion and sexual abuse.Currently in Connecticut, a 16- or 17-year-old may get a marriage license if their local probate court judge approves a petition filed on the minor’s behalf by their parent or guardian. Current state law also allows emancipated minors to marry at 16 or 17, something that will end under this new legislation as well.The bill moves to Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont’s desk. A spokesperson said Friday the governor plans to sign the legislation into law.Despite Friday’s unanimous Senate vote, there was criticis...

Protests erupted outside Los Angeles elementary school’s Pride month assembly

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:23 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police officers separated groups of protesters and counterprotesters Friday outside a Los Angeles elementary school that has become a flashpoint for Pride month events across California.People protesting a planned Pride assembly outside the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Saticoy Elementary School wore T-shirts emblazoned with “Leave our kids alone” — and carried signs with slogans such as “Parental Choice Matters” and “No Pride in Grooming.” Tensions at the school have been rising since last month, when a social media page was created to urge parents to keep their children home Friday, the day of the planned assembly.Los Angeles police headquarters tweeted: “LAPD is at Saticoy Elementary School this morning. We are here to support our LAUSD partners and facilitate a peaceful and lawful exercise of constitutional rights.”Los Angeles Unified School District Board Member Kelly Gonez said the assembly went on without issue. It included a reading of “The G...

Halifax-area residents board buses to view dozens of homes destroyed by wildfires

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:23 GMT

HALIFAX — Scores of Halifax-area residents whose homes were destroyed by wildfires boarded buses Friday to get a look at what little remains of where they used to live.Katherine Tarateski, a local real estate agent who lost her home during the fire, said she had already seen images of her house in ruins. But she said she wanted to help a neighbour who would be seeing the remains of her home for the first time.“I’m going to support my friend because she was living alone, and she doesn’t want to be alone when she sees what’s left there,” Tarateski said. “It’s very emotional.”Before three transit buses left a parking lot in Upper Tantallon, N.S., Red Cross workers hovered nearby, providing bottles of water and hugs to some of the passengers. Local resident Jody Stuart, who also lost his home to the fire, said he didn’t want to be a part of the grim tour.“I need to physically go and do my thing with family and friends beside me,” said Stuart, whose nine-yea...

One-quarter of Air Canada flights delayed Friday as schedule recovers from IT issue

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:23 GMT

More than one-quarter of Air Canada flights experienced delays on Friday as the airline worked to return service to normal following a technical malfunction the previous day.Air Canada had warned travellers early Friday morning they should be prepared for further flight disruptions. In its daily travel outlook, the carrier said that while its IT system was stable, flights may be affected at nine of Canada’s busiest airports, including Toronto’s Pearson, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary.Thursday’s outage led to more than 500 flights — over three quarters of its trips — to be delayed or cancelled on the day, creating what the airline said were “rollover effects” just prior to the weekend.A total of 144 Air Canada flights, or 27 per cent of the airline’s scheduled load, had been delayed Friday as of around 4:30 p.m. EDT, along with 33 cancellations, according to tracking service FlightAware.com.An additional 56 flights with Air Canada Rouge saw delays...

Stock market today: Wall Street leaps, nearly escapes its bear market after strong jobs report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:23 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rushed higher Friday after a strong report on the U.S. job market suggested a recession may not be as close as Wall Street had feared. The S&P 500 leaped 1.5% for the latest surge in a rally that’s vaulted it nearly 20% since mid-October. That put Wall Street’s main measure of health on the edge of entering what’s called a “bull market” despite a long list of challenges. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 701 points, or 2.1%, while the Nasdaq composite gained 1.1%.They got a boost after a report showed employers unexpectedly accelerated their hiring last month. It’s the latest signal that the job market remains remarkably solid despite much higher interest rates, and it offers a hefty pillar of support for an economy that’s begun to slow.Areas of the market that do best when the economy is healthy led a widespread rally, including stocks of industrial companies, energy producers and banks. Exxon Mobil rose 2.3% as prices for crude o...