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Donald Trump’s day in court as criminal defendant: What to know

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:36 GMT

For the first time in history, a former U.S. president has appeared in court as a criminal defendant.Donald Trump surrendered to authorities Tuesday after being indicted by a New York grand jury on charges related to hush-money payments at the height of the 2016 presidential election.Trump, a 2024 presidential candidate, pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges in a Manhattan courtroom. He then flew home to Florida and spoke to a crowd of supporters at his home.Here’s what to know about Trump’s day in court.Hush-money payments related to 2016 U.S. electionProsecutors unsealed the indictment against the former president Tuesday, giving Trump, his lawyers and the world their first opportunity to see them. Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.Prosecutors said Trump conspired to undermine the 2016 presidential election by trying to suppress information that could harm his candidacy and then concealing the true nature of the hush-money paymen...

Dangerous severe storms again hitting Midwest, South

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:36 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — People still sorting through the wreckage of their homes after deadly weather hit over the weekend braced for another wave of strong storms, including tornadoes, that began rolling into parts of the Midwest and South beginning Tuesday evening. Officials warned residents to have shelter ready before going to sleep.“This could be a night to just set up down in the basement to be safe,” said Tom Philip, a meteorologist in Davenport, Iowa.The National Weather Service on Tuesday evening began issuing tornado warnings in Iowa and Illinois and said a confirmed twister was spotted southwest of Chicago near Bryant, Illinois. No damage was immediately reported.The storms were expected to hammer some areas hit by severe weather and possibly dozens of tornadoes just days ago that killed at least 32 people, meaning more misery for those whose homes were destroyed in Arkansas, Iowa and Illinois. Dangerous conditions Tuesday also could stretch into parts of Missouri, southw...

Tight Chicago mayor’s race between progressive, moderate Dem

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:36 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — The candidates for Chicago mayor were in a tight race Tuesday as voters chose between sharply contrasting views on issues including crime, taxes, schools and investment in policing to lead the heavily Democratic city, the country’s third-largest. The race pitted former Chicago schools CEO Paul Vallas, a moderate Democrat endorsed by Chicago’s police union and major business groups, against progressive Brandon Johnson, a former teacher and union organizer backed by the Chicago Teachers Union. With much of the vote counted, the race was neck-and-neck. Vallas and Johnson advanced to the runoff after finishing ahead of current Mayor Lori Lightfoot in a February election, making her the first incumbent in 40 years to seek reelection in the city and lose. The contest has centered on the increase in violent crime during the COVID-19 pandemic and soaring property taxes. With polls closed in the evening, Tuesday’s results also could have implications for Demo...

Israeli police clash with worshipers at Jerusalem holy site

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:36 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police raided Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City early Wednesday and attacked Palestinian worshippers, Palestinian media reported, raising fears of wider tension as Islamic and Jewish holidays overlap.The incidents sparked a wave of Palestinian protests, condemnations and violence. The Israeli military said sirens warning of incoming rockets sounded in Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip. Tension has already been high in east Jerusalem and the West Bank for months, and fears of further violence were fueled with the convergence of the Muslim holy fast month and the Passover.Such confrontations at the contested holy compound, the third holiest shrine in Islam that is also the most sacred site in Judaism and referred to as the Temple Mount, have sparked deadly cross-border wars between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers in the past, the last was in 2021.Videos on social media purportedly showed Israeli police officers beating Palestinians with baton...

Bulls clinch a spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:36 GMT

CHICAGO - The Bulls will be playing basketball after the conclusion of the regular season this April. How long they'll go is very much to be determined.Thanks to a loss by the Orlando Magic against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday evening, the Bulls have officially locked up a spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. That will give them the chance to advance to the playoffs as either the seventh or eighth seed when it's played April 11-14.This is the first time the Bulls have been in the play-in tournament since it was introduced by the NBA during the 2020-2021 season. The Bulls are currently playing the Hawks at the United Center, sitting as the tenth seed in the Eastern Conference. They still have a chance to move up to as high as the eighth seed as of Tuesday evening.Here are the scenarios for the Bulls in the play-in tournament with three games to go in the season.Should Billy Donovan's team finish as the ninth or tenth seed, they would play their first game on Wedne...

Trump, back home at Mar-a-Lago, condemns charges against him as ‘fake case’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:36 GMT

Anthony Man and Angie DiMichele | South Florida Sun SentinelFormer President Donald Trump returned to South Florida on Tuesday evening after an early afternoon court appearance in New York where he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges.He landed at Palm Beach International Airport at about 6:40 p.m., almost 30 hours after he departed PBIA for the trip to New York for his first appearance in court after last week’s indictment by a Manhattan grand jury.About an hour and a half later he began a speech condemning the prosecution — and other investigations into his conduct — in a televised speech before hundreds of supporters gathered at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach resort club and home.“God bless you all. God bless you all. And I never thought anything like this could happen in America,” he said. “The only crime I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it.”“This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election, and it shou...

Abortion access at stake in Wisconsin Supreme Court race being decided Tuesday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:36 GMT

By SCOTT BAUER (Associated Press)MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin voters were deciding the outcome of the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history on Tuesday in a heated contest that will likely determine the fate of abortion access, the future of Republican-drawn legislative maps, voting rights and years of other GOP policies.The Wisconsin Supreme Court has been under conservative control for 15 years, serving as the final word on a wide array of Republican policies enacted by the GOP-controlled Legislature. The court came within one vote of overturning President Joe Biden’s narrow win in 2020.Democratic-backed candidate Janet Protasiewicz, 60, faces Republican-backed Dan Kelly, 58, in a contest that has nearly tripled the $15 million cost of a 2004 Illinois tilt that had been the most expensive court race in U.S. history.After polls closed Tuesday, all eyes were on the outcome of a race that will determine whether Democratic-backed justices take control of the high court for at ...

Fighting flames with hazardous chemicals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:36 GMT

TROY, N.Y.(NEWS10) – The scene was anything but clean at the laundromat on 5th Avenue in Troy. As the air filled with thick smoke from the fire burning inside the building, some neighbors worried about whether they were exposed to hazardous materials in the smokey air.DEC confirmed the department was not called to Checkerboard Laundry Mat and Dry on Wednesday night. According to the department, laundromats are not as hazardous as drycleaners, which contain more dangerous chemicals in the event of a fire.But Eric Wisher, Troy Fire Union President, says firefighters on the scene made sure to remove any contaminants from their uniforms. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! “That’s what we do. It takes, like today, it probably took them 8 hours and a couple of guys to do all the guys that worked with yesterday’s gear,” he said.First responders also have self-contained breathing apparatuses to help fight the flames through the heavy ...

Dutchess County man arrested in Albany groping incidents

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:36 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- An arrest has been made after four reports of forcible touching in the Pine Hills neighborhood. Nathan Holmes, 31, of Red Hook, New York, was arrested Tuesday. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Four reports were made to Albany police on Monday, April 3 where four different female victims stated they were approached from behind and touched on the buttocks by an unknown man. The incidents took place around 3:20 p.m. on Park Avenue, 4:25 p.m. on Hudson Avenue, 4:30 p.m. on Madison Avenue, and 10:20 p.m. in the area of Hudson Avenue and Ontario Street. Holmes was identified as the suspect and taken into custody in Hudson. He was charged with three counts of Forcible Touching and is scheduled to be arraigned in Albany City Criminal Court.

Trump rails against charges in post-arraignment speech at Mar-a-Lago

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:36 GMT

Former President Donald Trump delivered a grievance-ridden speech on Tuesday hours after facing arraignment on criminal charges in New York, casting himself as the victim of a political prosecution and railing against what he called a “lawless” justice system bent on ending his political career.Speaking at Mar-a-Lago, his personal residence and private club in Palm Beach, Fla., Trump went on an extended tirade against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who’s office indicted Trump last week in a case involving hush money payments to a porn star to cover up an alleged extramarital affair. The former president maintained his innocence, saying he never did anything illegal and that the charges against him should never have been brought. He also attacked the judge presiding over the case, Justice Juan Merchan, calling him a “Trump-hating judge.”“You want to get President Trump at any cost,” Trump said. “As it turns out ,everyone who has looked at this case…says there is no cri...