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Spain swings right in local and regional elections

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s conservative opposition Popular Party made significant gains in Sunday’s local and regional elections, offering a dire assessment of public feeling towards the ruling left-wing coalition ahead of general elections in December.In the local vote, the Popular Party, or PP, won 31.5% of votes compared with 28.2% for the Spanish Socialist Workers Party, or PSOE, which leads the central government, with more than 97% of votes counted, according to results published by the Interior Ministry. This was a 1.2 percentage point decrease for PSOE on 2019, but almost a 9 point increase for the PP, which benefited from the collapse of the centrist Citizens party.The PP also dominated several regions previously won by PSOE including Valencia, Aragon and La Rioja. Spain’s regional governments have enormous power and budgetary discretion over education, health, housing and policing. The party also swung important cities including Valencia and Seville from the Sociali...

Syrian state media: Suspected Israeli airstrikes target Damascus

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

DAMASCUS (AP) — Airstrikes attributed to Israel targeted Syria’s capital city late Sunday, the first such strikes in a month, Syrian state media reported.Syrian air defenses responded to the strikes in the vicinity of Damascus and shot down some of them, state news agency SANA reported. The attack caused only “material damage,” it said.The last suspected Israeli airstrike on Syria was on April 29, targeting the province of Homs. SANA, citing military officials, said at the time that three civilians were wounded in the strike and that a civilian fuel station caught fire and a number of fuel tankers and trucks were burned.There was no immediate statement from Israeli authorities regarding Sunday’s strikes on Damascus.Israel, which has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment next door, has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of neighboring Syria in recent years, but rarely acknowledges them.However, Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, s...

At least 35 shot, 8 dead over Memorial Day weekend as Johnson urges City to work together

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

CHICAGO — Memorial Day weekend violence has led to nearly three dozen people being shot, including a number of deaths. Mayor Brandon Johnson made an appearance at CPD's 8th District roll call in Wentworth Park Sunday with a message for Chicago."If you point fingers, nothing gets done," Johnson said. "But if you surround yourself with people who have a vested interest in a better, stronger, safer Chicago, there's a lot more we can do if we work together."Johnson's pitch to Chicagoans came as at least 35 people had already been the victim of gun violence over Memorial Day weekend, including eight people who died from their injuries. 3 shot in Lakeview Four people were shot in a South Side drive-by shooting Saturday near the intersection of East 79th Street and Ashland Avenue. A woman later died from that incident. A few hours later, two people were shot in the 300 block of North Dearborn Street.As the violence has happened, pastors and community activists around the City have been b...

Rolling Thunder's Ride to Remember on Memorial Day weekend

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. — A Ride to Remember was held outside of the Lovell VA Hospital in North Chicago on Memorial Day Weekend. "We honor the sacrifices of fallen members who put their lives on the line for our nation, for us and for future generations of fellow Americans," Ret. Col. Wayne Kirkpatrick said. Memorial Day Parades & Ceremonies For the 35th year, the Rolling Thunder is a 54-mile trek from North Chicago, south the Hines VA in Chicago and then to Cantigny Park in Wheaton.The ride honors the 645,000 Americans lost in battle since World War I, with special recognition for the nearly 82,000 POWs and MIAs."It's not just a day for a cookout but a day to honor veterans, past, present," Kirkpatrick said.The honor from nearly 200 riders reflects the sacrifices of those who've served in America's armed services.The Lake County Sheriff's Auxiliary served as guides on the first part of the journey.It was a way of saying thank you to those who've protected our fragile freedoms an...

Escaped Ohio inmate found dead in the Ohio River

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) -- A multi-day manhunt for escaped Ohio inmate Bradley Gillespie has come to an end.Police in Henderson, Kentucky said a preliminary investigation shows Gillespie's body was found in the Ohio River by a boater during a press conference Sunday evening. Gillespie and another inmate, James Lee, were reported missing from the Allen Oakwood Correctional Institution in Lima, Ohio on Tuesday. They had last been seen on surveillance video inside the facility shortly before 9 a.m. Monday. An investigation later determined the two had hidden in a dumpster to escape. Search for American teen missing in the Bahamas called off Wednesday morning, Henderson Police found what they believed to be a stolen vehicle occupied by Gillespie and Lee just after 3 a.m. on Highway 41 near Atkinson Park.When officers tried to pull the vehicle over, a pursuit began. They say the fugitives crashed a short time later and then ran from the vehicle. Lee was apprehended and taken to a hospit...

Tennessee woman goes missing during cross-country trip with boyfriend

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

CHEATHAM COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) -- A Tennessee family is desperately trying to find their loved one after they say she disappeared while traveling across the country with her boyfriend, who is currently wanted on an unrelated arrest warrant. Toni Alcaraz last spoke with her 33-year-old sister, Nikki Alcaraz, also known as Nikki Cunningham, three weeks ago. Nikki had set out in her black Jeep with her boyfriend, Tyler Stratton, and a dog to visit family in Orange County, California."I talk to her almost every day, so I am scared something happened to them," said Toni. "It's a trip she's done hundreds of times. Our uncle is still in Southern California, and she goes to see him often."During their cross-country trip, the couple had a run-in with law enforcement in Torrance County, New Mexico. According to a Torrance County Sheriff's Office report from May 4, a witness saw Stratton punch Nikki in the face. The report went on to say that Stratton claimed he was also hit, with blood coming ...

Austin-aimed bills in the legislative session: What's headed to the governor, what's not

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Another legislative session in Texas, another round of bills aimed at the city where it all happens. Texas’ 88th Legislative Session: Which bills made it to the governor’s desk? "Every two years, it seems that the state legislature has the city of Austin in its sights. And we kind of always hoped that absence might make the heart grow a little fonder, that that won't be the case. But usually what happens is familiarity breeds contempt," said Brian Smith, a professor of political science at St. Edward's University. Here are some of the Austin-inspired bills and where the stand at the end of the session: HB 2127: Texas Regulatory Consistency ActA bill that strips a local government's ability to create laws more strict than Texas' in some cases will head to the governor's desk. It takes away the City of Austin's ability to create things like labor laws and water restrictions in a drought. "This is what the opponents called the 'Death Star' bill. And this limits munic...

Texas softball swept by No. 4 Tennessee in super regionals, ends season with 45 wins

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Longhorns softball team ran into a Tennessee orange-colored buzzsaw in the super regionals.The Longhorns won't be returning to the Women's College World Series after Saturday's 9-0 loss to the fourth-seeded Tennessee Lady Volunteers at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville. Tennessee won 5-2 on Friday, and the Lady Vols swept the best-of-three series to end Texas' season.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newslettersTennessee outscored Texas 14-2 over two games to advance to the WCWS in Oklahoma City beginning June 1. The Lady Vols will play either fifth-seeded Alabama or 12th-seeded Northwestern in the WCWS, and the Longhorns ended their season with a 45-15-1 record.In Saturday's game, shaky defense led to five errors and the biggest of them all allowed four runs to score in the seventh inning. Giulia Koutsoyanopulos hit a single to right field with the b...

Jose Berríos helps Blue Jays blank Twins, 3-0

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

José Berríos made another solid start. Alejandro Kirk delivered a timely hit. Daulton Varsho did a little bit of everything.The Toronto Blue Jays took another step toward a turnaround at the end of a rough month, posting their first series win in four tries in well-rounded fashion.Berríos pitched around a season-high five walks and into the sixth inning for Toronto to beat his old team, and the Blue Jays blanked the Minnesota Twins 3-0 on Sunday.“Hopefully, this kind of springboards us forward,” manager John Schneider said after the Blue Jays played their 17th game in 17 days.Kirk hit a two-run single in the second inning that held up for Berríos (5-4), who has allowed two or fewer runs in seven of his last nine turns after a rough start.Varsho scored all the way from first base on Kirk’s hit. Handling center field for Kevin Kiermaier — the day after he twice had a leaping catch attempt turn into a Twins home run when those balls bounced off his glove and into the grass berm —...

Upper Sioux Agency State Park will go to community — but not yet

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

Legislation that will lead to the transfer of Upper Sioux Agency State Park land to the Upper Sioux Community has been adopted.However, that doesn’t mean the land will be transferred anytime soon.“The park will be open this summer,” said Ann Pierce, parks and trails director for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. More than 30,000 people visit the park each year.In three separate bills, the Minnesota Legislature approved about $6.5 million to pay for the transfer of about 1,400 acres. The last of them was adopted last Monday, the final day of the 2023 session.Review processThis year, the DNR will begin reviewing any barriers to the transfer of the land and looking for areas to develop comparable recreational opportunities in the area, Pierce said.A meeting has been held with people who own land near the park and more meetings will be planned as the process unfolds, she said.There could be barriers to transferring the land, because federal and state funds were used to make...