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Senate passes defense policy bill with 5.2% pay raise for troops, the biggest boost in decades

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:48 GMT

By KEVIN FREKING (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed a defense policy bill Wednesday that authorizes the biggest pay raise for troops in more than two decades, but also leaves behind many of the policy priorities that social conservatives were clamoring for, making for an unusually divisive debate over what is traditionally a strongly bipartisan effort.Lawmakers have been negotiating a final bill for months after each chamber passed strikingly different versions in July. Some of the priorities championed by social conservatives were a no-go for Democrats, so negotiators dropped them from the final product to get it over the finish line. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 87-13 It now heads to the House, where opponents have been more vocal about their concerns.Most notably, the bill does not include language blocking the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy and restricting gender-affirming health care for transgender service members and dependents. Re...

98.5’s Fred Toucher responds to Hardy morning show speculation; Paul Perillo gives insight into Taylor Swift at Patriots game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:48 GMT

98.5 The Sports Hub’s Fred Toucher on Wednesday commented on the speculation that Rob “Hardy” Poole will be his co-host on “Toucher and Rich,” while a 98.5 guest gave some insight into whether Taylor Swift will be at the Patriots game this weekend.Toucher during Wednesday’s show read the Herald’s story about Hardy filling in on the morning show earlier this week. Hardy, the third chair on the midday show “Zolak and Bertrand” who is key for show production, has been rumored as the replacement for Rich Shertenlieb on the morning show.In the Herald’s report, midday host Scott Zolak poured some cold water on how the morning show went with Toucher and Hardy earlier this week. Zolak called Toucher and Hardy “very similar,” like “vinegar and vinegar” on a salad.Toucher responded to Zolak’s comments, emphasizing that it would be a promotion for Hardy if he got the morning show position.“Don’...

Australian court overturns woman’s 2-decade-old convictions in deaths of her 4 children

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:48 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — An Australian appeals court on Thursday overturned all convictions against a woman 20 years after a jury found her guilty of her killing her four children.Kathleen Folbigg already was pardoned by the New South Wales state government and released from prison in June based on new scientific evidence that her four children died from natural causes as she had insisted.The pardon was seen as the quickest way of getting the 56-year-old woman out of prison before an inquiry into the new evidence recommended the New South Wales Court of Appeals consider quashing her convictions.Applause filled the courtroom and Folbigg wept as Chief Justice Andrew Bell quashed three convictions of murder and one of manslaughter.Her children died over a decade ending 1999 aged between 19 days and 19 months.Prosecutors argued she smothered them, and she was convicted in 2003 and sentenced to 30 years in prison.The Associated Press

Pennsylvania is in its Taylor Swift era, her home state decides

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:48 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — She’s Time magazine’s person of the year. She’s the most-played artist globally on Spotify. She’s helmed the first tour to gross more than $1 billion and then the highest-grossing concert film of all time. And now Taylor Swift can add one more accolade: A state House of Representatives resolution is recognizing 2023 as the Taylor Swift era in her home state of Pennsylvania. Lawmakers approved the resolution on Swift’s 34th birthday.Pennsylvania (Taylor’s Version) has benefited from her Midas touch over the past year, sponsors say. The frenzy for tickets to her tour prompted legislative action in the state — and elsewhere, albeit slowly — to address Ticketmaster’s shortcomings. Swift buoyed the local economy on her tour stops in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and donated proceeds to hunger relief organizations as she blazed through. Nationally, she’s encouraged thousands of people to register to vote, particularly young people. The pure heft of the Pe...

Texas woman who fled to Cambodia ahead of trial found guilty of murder in stabbing of Seattle woman

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:48 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — A Texas woman who cut off her ankle monitor and fled the country while awaiting trial last year was found guilty of murder on Wednesday in the fatal stabbing of a 23-year-old Seattle woman. She was sentenced to life in prison.A jury in Dallas convicted Lisa Dykes of murder and tampering with evidence in the 2020 killing of Marisela Botello-Valadez following a seven-day trial. Dykes, 60, showed no emotion as a judge read the verdict aloud, according to KDFW-TV.A lawyer for Dykes, Heath Harris, said his client maintains she is innocent and has already filed paperwork to appeal the verdict. A spokesperson for the Dallas County District Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The conviction comes days after prosecutors had dropped murder charges against two people who they’d previously accused of Botello-Valadez’s killing. The two, Nina Marano and Charles Anthony Beltran, still face trial on charges of tampering with evi...

Family questions CPD's response after Midway Airport worker shot, killed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:48 GMT

CHICAGO – A Southwest Side family is raising questions about the Chicago Police Department's response after their loved one was shot and killed just blocks away from his home. Johnny Huizar was a longtime Midway International Airport skycap who was driving home from work on Saturday, Dec. 9, when shots rang. The grieving family told WGN News that the investigators on the scene seemed more intent on questioning the wounded Huizar rather than expediting his trip to the emergency room, as he clung to life with a gunshot wound to the face. Loved ones described last Saturday's chaotic scene in the alley behind their home."I turned around, looked at my brother, and he was standing outside of his car, holding onto the door and he was bleeding from his eye and his ear," described Brenda Huizar, the victim's sister. "My brother kept telling the cops he didn’t feel good and that he didn’t want to keep talking.” Family of Hinsdale teenager killed in crash outside car wash files lawsuit again...

New Netflix report reveals what we spent the most – and least – hours watching

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:48 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Netflix knows what you like, it even offers a percentage chance that you'll enjoy a new show or movie, but what about the streaming habits of others? For the first time, Netflix released a trove of viewer engagement data Tuesday that reveals which titles people spent the most – and least – time streaming.If you were a fan of FBI thriller "The Night Agent: Season 1," you're not alone. Netflix viewers spent 812,100,000 hours – the most of any title – watching FBI agent Peter Sutherland navigate a deadly conspiracy with ties to the White House. Inflation or deflation? These 12 things are actually getting cheaper The second-most viewed title was "Ginny & Georgia: Season 2," the dramedy by Sarah Lampert that follows free-spirited young mom Georgia, played by Brianne Howey, as she and her children, Ginny and Austin, try to make a new life in New England."What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report" measures the total hours that viewers spent between January and June of ...

Police work to crackdown on retail thefts at the Oak Brook Mall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:48 GMT

OAK BROOK, Ill. — Thanks to funding from the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, the Oak Brook Police Department is starting to crackdown on shoplifters at the Oak Brook Mall.Officers gave WGN News an inside look at a first-of-its-kind crime center in DuPage County, where intricate technology systems are being employed to track down shoplifters."This is the shopping center," said Oak Brook Police Chief Brian Strockis, referring to a video feed of the Oak Brook Mall. "We have license plate readers and overview cameras on basically the entire exterior of the mall. We’re working on all the interior cameras to be populated [but] we’re weeks away from that."Oak Brook PD is a part of a statewide retail crime task force, thanks to $5 million in grants made to 24 communities that include Gurnee, Naperville and Orland Park."Once you realize the organized nature of this and how much its costing businesses and consumers and what the proceeds are used for," said Illinois Attorney General K...

REPORT: QB Maalik Murphy to transfer from Texas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:48 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Redshirt freshman quarterback Maalik Murphy is set to transfer from Texas football, according to a report from ESPN's Pete Thamel.Murphy served as the Longhorn's backup quarterback in 2023 behind Quinn Ewers. When Ewers went down late against Houston, Murphy came in to finish the game. He also started the next two games against BYU and Kansas State, both wins for Texas.A lot was made about Murphy not transferring from Texas after Quinn Ewers committed two years ago and then Arch Manning a year after. Murphy got his shot to play and clearly cherished the moment.There is expected to plenty of interest in the former four-star recruit. ESPN also reports that Murphy will not be available for the Sugar Bowl against Washington.

School race imbalance must hurt performance to be unconstitutional, MN Supreme Court rules

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:48 GMT

Whether racial segregation in schools violates the state constitution depends on whether it has a significant negative effect on educational outcomes for students, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.It’s the latest ruling in the 2015 lawsuit brought by St. Paul parent Alejandro Cruz-Guzman, attorney Dan Shulman and other parents over school segregation which could lead to policy changes forcing policies integrating highly segregated Twin Cities schools.In their lawsuit, they argue the state is feeding segregation by allowing single-race charter schools and allowing families to enroll outside of assigned school districts. A group of charter schools opposed to the changes have intervened in the lawsuit.A majority of justices on the state Supreme Court on Wednesday said racial imbalances in St. Paul and Minneapolis public schools when compared to other states are not sufficient on their own to establish a violation of the state constitution’s Education Clause. Instead, they ne...