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Feds wrote $128M in duplicate checks to docs, report finds

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:46 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government wrote duplicate checks to doctors who provided care for veterans, costing taxpayers as much as $128 million in extra payments, according to a new watchdog report out this week. In nearly 300,000 cases, private doctors were paid twice – once by the Veterans Health Administration and another time by Medicare – for the same care provided to veterans from 2017 to 2021, the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General found in its report. There’s been a spike in those duplicate payments since 2020, when the program that allows veterans to seek care from private doctors was expanded. “These duplicate payments occurred because CMS did not implement controls to address duplicate payments for services,” the HHS OIG said in its report. Roughly 1.9 million veterans every year now receive health care, paid for by the federal government, from private doctors when a VA medical facility is too far away or has long wait times. The number of veterans...

Liberals changing sex offender registry in response to Supreme Court decision

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:46 GMT

OTTAWA — The government moved Wednesday to change the criteria for who gets added to the national sex offenders database but repeat offenders and those convicted of serious sexual crimes against children will still be automatically required to register in the database.A bill introduced by the government’s representative in the Senate responds to a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada last year that ruled it was unconstitutional to add everyone convicted of a sexual offence to the registry.The bill amends the Criminal Code to limit automatic registration to repeat sexual offenders, and serious child sexual offenders. Others convicted of one of the crimes listed in the law can avoid being added if they can demonstrate they do not pose a risk to the community.It also expands the crimes covered by the registry to include the non-consensual sharing of intimate images and extortion, and will require registered sex offenders to provide 14 days’ notice before travelling.Justi...

California Democrats propose tax changes for businesses

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:46 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Democrats in the California Senate on Wednesday said they want to raise taxes on some of the largest corporations so they can cut taxes for nearly every other business.All California businesses pay a state tax rate of 8.84% on income, a figure that has not changed since 1997. This new proposal would create two tax rates for businesses in California. Companies would pay 6.63% on the first $1.5 million they make. Any money made above that would be taxed at 10.99%.The higher tax rate would only apply to about 2,500 companies and would bring in an extra $7.2 billion in revenue for the state. Meanwhile, about 1.6 million businesses would benefit from the smaller tax rate, reducing state revenue by about $2.2 billion.The money that is left over — about $5 billion — would go to poor people who claim tax credits and would boost state programs for public education, child care and combatting homelessness.The proposal is still a long way from becoming law. Tax increas...

North Dakota governor vetoes 1 library bill, signs another

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:46 GMT

North Dakota’s governor vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have required librarians under threat of criminal penalty to screen sexually explicit materials from children, but signed another barring explicit materials from the children’s sections of local and school libraries. The Senate voted 33-14 to override Republican Gov. Doug Burgum’s veto hours later, though a similar House vote would be needed to make a veto override successful. The House had passed the bill on a 54-38 vote last week, several votes shy of a veto-proof majority.“Protecting children from explicit sexual material is common sense,” Burgum said in a statement explaining why he signed one of the bills into law.But he said the bill he vetoed would have created “an enormous burden” on hundreds of public libraries by imposing — under the threat of criminal prosecution — an expensive requirement that libraries review materials that have already been screened for age appropriateness. His statement said ...

Toronto man charged with murder in shooting death of Tola Paul

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:46 GMT

Police have charged a 22-year-old in connection with the shooting death of a Kitchener man earlier this month. Tola Paul was found suffering from a gunshot wound at an apartment building on Clearview Heights, near Eglinton Avenue West and Black Creek Drive, on April 15. He was taken to a trauma centre in critical condition, where he was pronounced dead.On Wednesday, homicide investigators arrested Earlan Clovis of Toronto and charged him with second degree murder.

Mississippi jail escapee believed dead after armed standoff

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:46 GMT

CONWAY, Miss. (AP) — A man who escaped from a Mississippi jail and is a suspect in a Monday night killing is believed to have died after barricading himself in a home and setting it on fire during an armed standoff with deputies, a police official said Wednesday. Plumes of smoke emanated from the charred remains of the home in Conway, Mississippi, on Wednesday. Investigators believe 22-year-old Dylan Arrington perished inside the home, setting it ablaze after shooting a deputy in the leg, Leake County Sheriff Randy Atkinson told The Associated Press. “He inflicted that kind of terror after escaping from jail, killing people and shooting law enforcement. But that guy won’t be killing anyone else,” Atkinson said.Authorities have been pursuing Arrington and three other inmates who broke out over the weekend from a Mississippi jail that was under federal scrutiny. Arrington is suspected of killing a man and stealing his pickup truck after the escape. Atkinson said a medical examiner had...

Quebec man sentenced to prison for creating AI-generated, synthetic child pornography

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:46 GMT

MONTREAL — A Quebec man has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for using artificial intelligence to produce synthetic videos of child pornography.Steven Larouche, 61, of Sherbrooke, Que., pleaded guilty to creating at least seven videos with so-called deepfake technology, which is used to superimpose the face of an individual onto the body of another person. He also pleaded guilty to possessing hundreds of thousands of computer files of child pornography, for which he was sentenced an additional four and a half years.Provincial court judge Benoit Gagnon wrote in his ruling, issued earlier this month, that he believes this was the first case in the country involving deepfakes of child porn. He said he worries what will happen as criminals use the technology to put the faces of children whose images they find on social media onto videos of other children being sexually assaulted. “The use of deepfake technology in criminal hands is chilling. The type of software a...

Brazil judge orders temporary suspension of Telegram

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:46 GMT

SAO PAULO (AP) — A federal judge in Brazil on Wednesday ordered a temporary suspension of messaging app Telegram, citing the social media platform’s alleged failure to provide all information Federal Police requested on neo-Nazi chat groups. The move is regarded as part of the country’s push against a rise in school violence.The judge also increased the daily fine for non-compliance to 1 million reais (about $200,000), from 100,000 reais previously, according to the ruling, which was provided by the Justice Ministry’s press office.The ruling from a federal court in Espírito Santo state said “the facts shown by police authorities show a clear purpose of Telegram of not cooperating with the investigation.” Brazil’s federal police confirmed in a statement that the push to block Telegram is already on course.Telegram’s press office didn’t immediately respond to an Associated Press email requesting comment regarding whether it was aware of the ruling, and it...

Driver crashes into business at Huntley strip mall

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:46 GMT

HUNTLEY, Ill. — A driver crashed into a business Wednesday afternoon at a strip mall in Huntley.Footage from Skycam 9 shows a car and building damaged after a crash in the 13300 block of Village Green Drive. Homewood man killed in petroleum plant blast was also wrestling coach It's unclear at this time if anyone was injured.Around 5 p.m., video from Skycam 9 showed the car being towed away from the scene.This is a developing story and will be updated.

Some Metra train lines delayed due to issues at Chicago Union Station

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:46 GMT

CHICAGO — Several Metra train lines aren't able to enter or leave Chicago's Union Station due to Amtrak switching issues and are creating major delays, according to Metra. Riders on the BNSF, SouthWest Service and Heritage Corridor may have delays getting into and departing Union Station. Driver crashes into business at Huntley strip mall According to Metra's website, this is because of ongoing Amtrak switch problems.Metra said the service disruption plan at Union Station is being implemented.Riders can check the latest rider alerts from Metra online.The BNSF line runs to Aurora, the SouthWest Service line runs to Manhattan and the Heritage Corridor line runs to Joliet. This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.