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Washington state officially abolishes death penalty

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:42 GMT

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — Washington state has officially abolished the death penalty.Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5087 on Friday, which removes state laws that Washington’s Supreme Court determined are invalid or unconstitutional. The state’s high court struck down the death penalty in 2018, but the law remained on the books.“It’s official. The death penalty is no longer in state law,” Inslee said on Twitter after the signing. He also thanked legislators and other leaders who were part of the decade-long effort to end the practice, including Attorney General Bob Ferguson.In 2014, Inslee issued a moratorium on the death penalty. In 2018, Washington’s Supreme Court unanimously struck down the death penalty, calling it arbitrary and racially biased.A statistical analysis by University of Washington sociologists, cited by the judges, showed that juries were about four times more likely to sentence Black defendants to death.“To the extent that race distinguishes the case...

Armed robbery of pizza delivery driver in Brighton ends with 4 arrests, including mother of a suspect

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:42 GMT

Three teenage suspects and one of their mothers were arrested after a pizza delivery driver was allegedly robbed at gunpoint in Brighton, according to officials.The Boston Police Department said the arrests were made around midnight on Wednesday, April 19, after a man delivering a pizza was robbed by “three male suspects” on Fidelis Way.The victim reportedly told officers that as he was grabbing the food from his vehicle, one of the suspects allegedly pointed a gun at his head and demanded his possessions. He also said one of the suspects punched him in the face before the three of them fled the scene.Boston police later spotted one of the suspects while canvassing the area, who department officials said “immediately ran and was able to gain access to an apartment.”Two of the other suspects were also located, according to a Boston PD news release, with police finding a stolen phone in one of the suspect’s pockets.Police said another arrest was made afte...

Ravens QB Tyler Huntley will sign restricted free agent tender on Monday

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:42 GMT

The Ravens and their backup quarterback have a deal.Tyler Huntley will sign his restricted free agent tender on Monday, a source with direct knowledge of the agreement confirmed to The Baltimore Sun. The Ravens had placed a right-of-first-refusal tender on Huntley last month, which meant any team could have signed him to an offer sheet, and if Baltimore didn’t match, it wouldn’t get any compensation in return.The 25-year-old will earn $2.627 million for the 2023 season before becoming a free agent.The Ravens’ starting quarterback, Lamar Jackson, has yet to sign his $32.4 million nonexclusive franchise tag. Should he sign an offer sheet with another team, the Ravens can match it or choose to let the 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player walk in exchange for two first-round draft picks.While the situation with Jackson remains unresolved, bringing back Huntley for what will be his fourth season in Baltimore provides at least some stability at the position. Anthony Brown, a ro...

Odell Beckham Jr. accused of assaulting woman at L.A. hotspot, denies claims: report

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:42 GMT

Odell Beckam Jr. has reportedly been named a suspect in an assault investigation in Los Angeles.The former New York Giant, who has recently agreed to a one-year, $18 million deal with the Baltimore Ravens, is accused of grabbing a woman’s throat at the West Hollywood hotspot Delilah, TMZ Sports reported.According to the outlet, the Ravens wide receiver grabbed the 30-year-old woman “with light pressure.” The two reportedly stayed at the venue after the alleged incident, which happened a few weeks ago.The woman filed a report “a few days” after the incident, TMZ reported, citing local authorities.Representatives for the 30-year-old former NFL star say the claims are bogus.The owner of the restaurant, John Terzian, also said “the claim [was] false.”Terzian was contacted by authorities about the incident and came to that conclusion after reviewing surveillance footage.“There is no evidence of this person even being in the area where she c...

Brazil’s Lula in Portugal amid Ukraine remarks controversy

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:42 GMT

LISBON (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived in Portugal on Friday amid heightened tensions with the European Union, following statements suggesting that Kyiv and the West share some responsibility for the conflict in Ukraine.Lula tweeted images of his arrival in Lisbon that showed him walking down a red carpet accompanied by his wife, Rosangela.The Brazilian leader courted controversy last weekend when he said that both Ukraine and Russia had decided to go to war, and claimed that the U.S. was “stimulating” the fighting. Earlier in the month, he irked Ukraine, the U.S. and the EU by suggesting that Ukraine should cede Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014, to end the current conflict. Lula also welcomed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Brasilia on Monday. The following day, Lula condemned the “violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity” while promoting his proposal for a club of nations, including Brazil, to mediate a peaceful resolution to the war.L...

Stock market today: Wall Street remains quiet, P&G gains

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:42 GMT

Stocks barely moved in morning trading on Wall Street Friday as investors close out a quiet week of mostly mixed corporate earnings reports.The S&P 500 was mostly unchanged as of 10:20 a.m. Eastern. The benchmark index has been wavering over the last several days and is on track for a slight weekly loss.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 51 points, or 0.2%, to 33,840.13 and the Nasdaq fell 0.2%.Banks and technology companies were mostly lower and weighed on the broader market. Health care companies and a range of consumer product makers gained ground and tempered losses elsewhere.The latest corporate earnings and forecasts have been the big focus for investors this week, as they try to get a better sense of how companies are handling high inflation, a slowing economy and fears about a recession. The market has a handful of earnings reports to assess Friday. Hospital operator HCA Healthcare rose 5.3% after the company topped estimates for the first quarter and raised its full-...

Women are monsters, victims and heroes in ‘Evil Dead Rise’

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:42 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — When director Lee Cronin set out to make the latest installment of the “Evil Dead” franchise, he knew he wanted to bring a fresh angle to his version of the iconic horror series while still giving winks and nods throughout to his source material.“I didn’t want to reboot a reboot or reboot something from before. So, I needed to find a new world, new characters,” he said.After meeting with Sam Raimi, who created the original 1981 “Evil Dead,” Cronin walked away with two stipulations for his new movie, “Evil Dead Rise,” which hits theaters Friday.He wanted to take the “’Evil Dead’ lore” to an urban environment, unlike the traditional rural cabin setting, and he wanted the story to center around a family.“The cogs started turning in my mind and I knew family and city and a kind of a world that maybe people could identify with,” he recalled. “I started to look at the construct of that family and then to look at some of the people in my own life.”Those peopl...

Early morning fire engulfs southern Idaho high school

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:42 GMT

POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — An early morning fire engulfed much of a large high school in southern Idaho on Friday.The Pocatello Fire Department said the fire at Highland High School was reported just before 4 a.m., and when firefighters arrived they found flames showing above the building amid heavy snowfall.The Pocatello School District canceled classes and fire crews worked to contain the flames and save what they could.The flames have reportedly caused part of the roof and some walls to collapse as well as some explosions inside the school, but there were no reports of injuries in the first three hours of fighting the fire, the Idaho State Journal reported.Authorities have not yet said what might have caused the fire, but an investigation is expected to begin once the flames are out.The school has roughly 1,500 students, making it one of the largest in Idaho.The Associated Press

Boy, 16, charged following ‘road rage’ incident in Mississauga parking lot

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:42 GMT

A 16-year-old has turned himself in to police after a man was stabbed during a “road rage incident” in a Mississauga parking lot on Wednesday. Police were called to a plaza near Eglinton Avenue West and Ridgeway Drive around 6:30 p.m. They say an argument between a driver and a pedestrian escalated to the point where the pedestrian stabbed the driver.Paramedics said the driver was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. He has since been upgraded to serious but stable.On Thursday, police said a teenager turned himself in to police and has been charged with aggravated assault. The suspect cannot be named due to the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Canadian consumers pull back on spending amid high prices, interest rates: Experts

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:42 GMT

Canadian consumers are pulling back on spending as rising prices and high interest rates appear to be taking a toll on retail sales. Retail sales slipped 0.2 per cent to $66.3 billion in February amid a drop in spending at general merchandise stores and gasoline stations and fuel vendors, Statistics Canada said Friday.The early estimate for March also points to an even steeper decline of 1.4 per cent, though the agency cautioned the figure would be revised.“We’re starting to see consumers tighten their belts,” retail analyst Bruce Winder said. “Canadian consumers are incredibly cautious right now.”Economists have warned of a lag between rising prices and high interest rates and the affect on the economy. While the Bank of Canada held its key lending rate at 4.50 per cent at its most recent rate decision, it is up from 0.25 per cent at the start of 2022.“It is clear that consumer spending behaviour has been impacted by the rapid rise in interest ra...