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In wake of Voting Rights Act ruling, North Dakota to appeal decision that protected tribes’ rights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:45 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A day after a federal appeals court dealt a significant blow to the Voting Rights Act, North Dakota’s top election official announced Tuesday that he wants the court to review a judge’s recent ruling that protected two Native American tribes’ voting rights.Voting rights groups had hailed U.S. District Chief Judge Peter Welte’s ruling Friday that the tribes’ voting rights were unlawfully diluted by a 2021 legislative redistricting map.But, in an unrelated lawsuit Monday, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that private individuals and groups such as the NAACP do not have the ability to sue under a key section of the Voting Rights Act.In announcing his intention to appeal Welte’s ruling, Republican Secretary of State Michael Howe specifically cited Monday’s 2-1 ruling by the appeals court panel, which is based in St. Louis and has jurisdiction over seven states, including North Dakota. It is unclear whether the same pan...

Missouri Supreme Court deals a blow to secretary of state’s ballot language on abortion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:45 GMT

The Missouri Supreme Court has turned away an appeal about how to word a ballot question on access to abortion in the state. Missouri lawmakers have already banned abortion except in cases of medical emergency, but proponents of broader access to the procedure are seeking to put a question about it directly before voters next year. In all seven states where abortion has been on the ballot since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last year, voters have either supported protecting abortion rights or rejected attempts to erode them.In Missouri, officials and advocates on both sides are grappling with how to word the question that could go on the ballot. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has proposed asking voters whether they are in favor of allowing “dangerous and unregulated abortions until live birth.” A state appeals court in October said the wording was politically partisan. Ashcroft appealed the decision, but on Monday the Missouri Supreme Court declined to hear his arg...

Here’s how October’s inflation data could affect mortgage renewals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:45 GMT

TORONTO — October’s inflation rate fell to 3.1 per cent on a year-to-year basis — down from 3.8 per cent in September — mainly driven by lower gasoline prices, Statistics Canada reported on Tuesday.Despite the slowdown, the agency said the largest contributors to inflation continued to be mortgage interest costs and rent.Mortgage interest costs were up 30.5 per cent compared with a year ago as the Bank of Canada’s benchmark interest rate sits at five per cent. Here are some common questions about inflation and mortgage renewals.How could the latest inflation data affect my mortgage renewal?While the rate of inflation and mortgage rates are correlated, James Laird, co-CEO of rate comparison website Ratehub.ca, said the latest inflation report is unlikely to have any immediate effect on existing mortgage rates. “We still need to watch next month and the month after that to see how inflation is trending back to that two-per-cent level,” he said.However, with the...

Police find 2 kids stabbed and 'covered in blood' inside Lisle home; Woman in custody

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:45 GMT

LISLE, Ill. — An investigation is underway after two children, ages 4 and 1, were found stabbed and 'covered in blood' after a homeowner alerted police in Lisle, authorities said. According to police, around 5:25 p.m., Friday, Nov. 17, Lisle officers were called to the 1900 block of Matson Lane "after the homeowner indicated that a person known to him was in the house armed with a knife." Munster family offers $15K reward after they were bound, robbed during home invasion Also inside the house were the homeowner's two children, police added. Arriving officers rushed into the residence and located the two injured children, who were rushed to a nearby hospital in stable condition. Officers also located a woman inside the home, who was taken into custody. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines Lisle police said there is no threat to the community at this time. An investigation is ongoing. An update is pending the completion of the investigation.

App payment confusion causes IRS to delay $600 sales reporting threshold — again

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:45 GMT

(The Hill) – Taxpayers and gig workers who use apps such as Venmo and Paypal to make money selling personal goods and services don’t have to worry about the new $600 threshold for reporting sales on form 1099-K to the IRS this year.Confusion about the new rule among taxpayers and payment companies, along with operational problems relating to unnecessary paperwork, have once again caused the agency to delay the requirement, initially passed in 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan (ARP).The threshold for tax year 2023 will remain at $20,000 and more than 200 transactions, the same as it was last year, IRS officials told reporters Tuesday. Next year, the IRS expects to enforce a $5,000 limit as a transitional threshold on the way down to the $600 required by law. IRS announces 2024 income tax brackets – see where you fall The ARP originally required apps and online marketplaces like eBay and Ticketmaster to report payments of more than $600 for the sale of goods and services on a...

Taco Bell sued after alcohol-fueled party led to sex in LA area restaurant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:45 GMT

(KTLA) — A former Los Angeles area Taco Bell employee is suing the company and a franchise owner after she claims a Christmas party at the fast-food restaurant descended into a drunken mess that included open sex. Alana Bechiom filed her lawsuit last week in Los Angeles Superior Court.In the suit, she alleges that her supervisor invited her to the Dec. 18, 2022, party at the San Pedro Taco Bell where she worked. She was encouraged to bring food for a potluck-style buffet, and her contribution was a bowl of guacamole.Once she arrived, Bechiom “discovered that [her supervisor] covered the windows of the restaurant with wrapping paper” and “also covered the cameras for the lobby in the inside of the restaurant,” according to the complaint, the NY Post and The Daily Mail report. In-N-Out Burger announces new expansion plans She claims her supervisor provided alcohol to staffers, several of whom were “overserved.”Around midnight, after Bechiom had stepped outside for a short time, she ...

Suicide on the spectrum: The hidden danger of autism

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:45 GMT

WGN's Medical reporter Dina Bair has some surprising statistics on suicided and the grave risk in one community.They are neighbors, in our school classrooms and working in the community, one in 36 people are on the autism spectrum. And while we live alongside the population, we may not understand their deeper, at times life-threatening, struggles."I’m rather up front with my autism," Kyle Engbrecht said.Engbrecht didn’t feel comfortable showing his face on camera, but he did want us to hear his words."I know that I do things differently, and not everyone will understand that," Engbrecht said.An artist with a skilled hand, the 27-year-old detailed his personal experience living with autism."Sometimes I just have trouble looking people in the eye because, for some reason, it’s uncomfortable for me. I have to sit there and manually press those buttons to make sure my body is doing the right thing.""He works so hard to be aware of his autism and how it influences his behavior and how hi...

Jet company leaving AUS, will move operations to Austin Executive Airport

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:45 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Private jet company JSX is leaving Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and will move operations to Austin Executive Airport next month.A spokesperson for the public charter operator told KXAN the move will happen Dec. 14 but declined to comment further.The airline will serve one route — Taos, New Mexico — from the executive airport located off State Highway 130 between Pflugerville and Manor. Austin airport passenger totals still on track for record-breaking year… again The company significantly cut back on the number of flights from Austin at the start of October, citing "real estate complaints." Flights to Dallas Love Field, Las Vegas and Gunnison/Crested Butte, Colorado, were previously operated."JSX is not pulling out of the Austin market, which remains one of our more popular regional hubs," a spokesperson told KXAN at the time. "We are actively working to resolve real estate constraints that are inhibiting our ability to serve the market sustainably and en...

Strong wind gusts this afternoon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:45 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Temperatures for the next seven days will be more in line with those we feel in late December and early January. We look to the next seven days being forecast with most highs in the mid/upper 50s to low/mid 60s.Wind gusts have exceeded 30 mph in some cities so far today. The gusty winds will continue through the middle of the afternoon at 20 to 30 mph before easing off once the sun goes down.Strong north winds continue through late this afternoonThis afternoon's forecast challenge is when the overcast will start to clear. Based on present trends it looks you have to wait until after 3 p.m. before some sun peers through the cloud deck.Central Texas will have a full day of sunshine Wednesday but with very little change in the afternoon highs. Like today, the highs will peek in the upper 50s to low 60s. Ahead of that lows will be in the mid/upper 30s to low 40s.Potential rainmaker for Thanksgiving DayThere continues to be a low rain chance on Thursday morning into the ...

Teen sentenced to 32 years in random shooting of businesswoman driving in St. Paul

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:45 GMT

A teenager who carried out a drive-by shooting in St. Paul, killing a bystander, received a 32-year prison term Tuesday.Yuliya (Julia) Li, a 34-year-old businesswoman driving home from shopping for a dinner party, died last year.Melvin Dump Williams (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)Melvin Dump Williams, who was 15 at the time and is now 17, pleaded guilty in June to second-degree murder while committing a drive-by shooting. As part of a plea deal, a charge of second-degree intentional murder, not premeditated, was dropped.Williams agreed to have his case certified to adult court, which is where he was sentenced Tuesday.According to the criminal complaint, Li was shot shortly before 7 p.m. Feb. 16, 2022, after leaving a supermarket where she bought food and other items for a dinner party she had planned for Feb. 20.She was behind the wheel of her 2017 Mercedes‐Benz on Payne Avenue. She was waiting for traffic to clear so she could make a left turn onto Cook Avenue when...