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Most favor pairing debt limit rise with deficit cuts, but few following debate closely: AP-NORC poll

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — About two-thirds of U.S. adults say they are highly concerned about how the national economy would be affected if the U.S. debt limit is not increased and the government defaults on its debts, according to a new poll, even as few say they have a solid understanding of the ongoing debt limit negotiations.The poll shows about 6 in 10 say they want any increase in the debt limit to be coupled with agreed-upon terms for reducing the federal budget deficit. At the same time, Americans are more likely to disapprove than approve of how President Joe Biden and congressional negotiators on both sides of the aisle are handling negotiations. Slightly more approve of Biden’s handling of the situation than of congressional Republicans. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research was conducted before Republican negotiators on Friday said they would “ press pause ” on talks as the two sides struggle to come to an agreement to avert a damaging ...

Hawaii’s governor, who is also a doctor, stops to help at site of crashed vehicle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:51 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, who is also a physician, was one of the people who stopped to help when his security detail spotted a vehicle upside down in a lava field Thursday while he was on his way to a Big Island event.Before becoming governor, Green was an emergency room doctor in rural parts of the Big Island.“He was upside down in a totally smashed up van,” Green told Hawaii News Now of the driver. “It appears he launched about 50 to 60 feet into the air and into the gulch, so his car was destroyed and we were able to get him out through the front windshield, removed a lot of rock and seven or eight citizens with me, we just pulled this guy out.”The man, who was wearing a seatbelt, had a few cuts and bruises and seemed to be OK, Green said.Green later spoke at a blessing ceremony for Waikoloa Solar and Storage.The Associated Press

Novelist James Patterson, journalist Vicky Ward plan book on killing of Idaho college students

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Best-selling novelist James Patterson is teaming up with investigative journalist Vicky Ward on a book about the 2022 killing of four University of Idaho students.Little, Brown and Company announced Friday that Patterson and Ward will “draw from dozens of exclusive interviews, extensive on-the-ground reporting, copious court transcripts” and their own planned attendance at the trial of suspect Bryan Kohberger, who was indicated this week by a grand jury in Boise.Kohberger is accused of killing Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home in Moscow, Idaho, near the University of Idaho campus. He has been charged with burglary and four counts of first-degree murder.“The Idaho murders have captured imaginations all around the world and I’m as caught up in it as anyone else. Because all of this happened in such a small town, there are definitely echoes of ‘In Cold Blood,’” Patterson said in a statement. He is one of the worldR...

Kia, Hyundai settle class-action lawsuit after a rash of thefts due to security flaw

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hyundai Motor America and Kia America will resolve class-action lawsuit prompted by a surge in vehicle thefts with a settlement agreement that could be valued at $200 million, the automakers announced Friday.The settlement covers about 9 million 2011-2022 model year Hyundai and Kia vehicles in the U.S. today, according to the companies. The cars are not equipped with push-button ignitions and immobilizing anti-theft devices — which has allowed them to be stolen easily by using just a screwdriver and a USB cord, creating a recent auto-theft outbreak across the country.The settlement will provide cash compensation to customers who incurred theft-related losses or damage that was not covered by insurance — as well as reimbursement for insurance deductibles, increased insurance premiums and other losses, Kia and Hyundai said.A software upgrade will also be provided to eligible owners as part of the settlement. For customers with vehicles that cannot accommodate the sof...

Obama, Colbert among 500 Americans banned from going to Russia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:51 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — In response to a new round of U.S. sanctions, Russia announced Friday that it was banning 500 Americans from entering the country, including former President Barack Obama and comedian Stephen Colbert.The list released by the Foreign Ministry did not specify complaints against each individual. But the ministry said the offenses included spreading Russophobia, supplying Ukraine with arms, and officials “who are directly involved in the persecution of dissidents in the wake of the so-called ‘storm of the Capitol.’”The ban includes 45 members of the U.S. House, Sens. J.D. Vance, Katie Britt and Eric Schmitt, and former ambassadors to Russia John Tefft and Jon Huntsman.The ministry said it had also denied a U.S. request for consular access to Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested in late March and charged with espionage. The ministry said that was in response to the United States denying visas to Russian journalists who wanted to cover Fo...

Judge shows willingness to release some records in Tyre Nichols beating death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:51 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee judge on Friday continued to temporarily block the release of more video footage and records in the investigation into Tyre Nichols’ death, but said he does want to make public information that would not interfere with the rights to a fair trial for five Memphis police officers facing charges.Shelby County Criminal Court Judge James Jones Jr. asked prosecutors to outline the information they think should and should not be be released to the public, and then give the list to defense attorneys. Jones set deadlines in June for prosecutors to provide defense lawyers the information from existing video footage and about 2,500 pages of documents that should be be released and for the defense to raise objections.Prosecutor Paul Hagerman and defense attorneys agreed that most police personnel records that pre-dated Nichols’ beating can be released. But they both also agreed that the media must not get so called Garrity statements, which stem from inve...

Video shows driver fleeing Iowa police with officer on hood, roof of car

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:51 GMT

CARROLL, Iowa (AP) — Harrowing video of a driver speeding from Iowa police with an officer clinging to his hood and roof emerged this month during the motorist’s sentencing.Dennis James Guider Jr., 29, of the Chicago area, was sentenced last week to up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to a felony count of serious injury by vehicle. Another felony count related to fleeing police was dismissed as part of the plea deal reached in March.Carroll, Iowa, police Officer Patrick McCarty stopped the car Guider was riding in on March 5, 2021. With an outstanding warrant in an Illinois forgery case, he was facing arrest. Body camera video that was introduced as an exhibit during Guider’s sentencing hearing shows him ignoring orders to get out of the car, instead shoving the driver out of the vehicle and scooting into the driver’s seat. McCarty got in front of the car, pointing his pistol at Guider and repeatedly ordering him to stop. As Guider drove forward, McCarty stepped o...

Police investigating after fetus found in Oakville park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:51 GMT

Halton police have opened an investigation after a fetus was discovered in an Oakville park.Authorities were notified of the discovery around 8:45 a.m. on Friday when police officers were called to Oakdale Park.A pedestrian walking near Munn’s Creek in the park located the fetus, police said.Halton’s homicide unit is leading the investigation as local officers seek video taken after Thursday, May 18, at approximately 7 p.m. in the evening.A police spokesperson said the mandate of the HRPS Homicide Unit is to investigate all pediatric death occurrences.

Man in suit duped employees into opening door before Pacific Mall jewelry heist

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:51 GMT

A sharp-dressed man who may have appeared to be a potential customer turned out to be part of a team of robbers that targeted a jewelry store at Pacific Mall in Markham on Thursday, York Regional Police revealed in an update Friday.Officers attended the mall in the Steeles Avenue and Kennedy Road area at around 3:10 p.m. on Thursday after receiving numerous calls about an armed heist.In an update Friday, police said a suspect dressed in a suit was the first to gain access to the store, before his accomplices stormed in.“Attending officers learned that a male suspect in a suit rang the store’s doorbell and waited for an employee to unlock the door, then assaulted the employee and entered with three other suspects,” police said.Once inside, the suspects smashed display cases and snagged high-end watches.At one point a gun was fired, but luckily no one was hit.After pilfering a quantity of valuables, the crooks fled the store into a waiting vehicle.Police say the first susp...

MedWatch Daily Digest: Sobering new statistics on deaths from drug overdoses — and more

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:51 GMT

For Friday, May 19, WGN’s Medical Reporter Dina Bair has the latest on new information, including the following: More Coverage: WGN's Medical Watch Drug overdose deaths surge in the USNearly 110,000 people died from drug overdoses in the United States in 2022. According to early estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that's the highest number of deaths recorded in a calendar year.The pandemic and proliferation of synthetic opioids helped to fuel the rise in deadly overdoses. Final data on drug overdose deaths won't be available for months.Mpox cases rising in Chicago ahead of summerHealth officials say cases of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, are on the rise again in Chicago.The Illinois Department of Public Health on Thursday confirmed at least 24 monkeypox cases, with two additional cases probable, since March 24. According to health officials, all cases were among symptomatic men, a majority of whom had received two doses of the monkeypox vaccine.IDPH...